Fancy wooden knitting needles

Last evening I hand crafted these wooden knitting needles. I decorated them with coconut shells and glass beads. İt makes knitting more enjoyable and it's so funny to notice people staring at my needles but ignoring my project.

Bursa’ya yolculuk / Trip to Bursa

Once in a month I go to Bursa and this Saturday, 27th December, I will go again. Bursa is a small city, near Uludağ mountain. Getting there has a fun part and this is when the bus goes into the ferry-boat. The not so fun part is that I have to wake up quite early, I have to be at 06.45 a.m. in İstinye for service pick-up. The express bus actually departs at 07.30 a.m. from Kavacık. I am a fidel customer of Nilüfer Turizm: I like their on board breakfast: cracker and cake with tea or coffee. The return, same day, at 05.00 p.m it’s boring because it’s already dark outside and there’s nothing much to see thru the windows, most of the passengers are sleeping and there’s nobody to chit chat with.
This time I’ll get my camera with me, I hope I can take pics of snowy peaks in Bursa.

Shopping for fabrics in Istanbul

Last week I was rambling in Besiktas, one of the most famous districts in Istanbul. I entered one fabric store. I was looking for a 100% linen or cotton fabric. I needed a thick fabric to refurbish a rescue chair. It should had been a natural fabric because I wanted to paint and stencil on it with acrylic paints.

My visit in that shop was such a pleasant shopping experience. The seller, an old and experienced man, told me so many and useful informations regarding fabrics. I am a very choosy customer, that type of buyer that not many sellers would love to see often. I like to ask many questions, change my mind in 5 minutes. I think I had half of the fabrics in the store exposed in front of me, on the desk, just for me to touch and feel them. I've never seen such a patient seller. His customer service was from far outstanding. He helped me a lot and I would highly recommend this shop to anybody who would like to buy fabrics in Istanbul. The shop's name is: Bursa Kumas Pazari and the its address is: Koyici Caddesi Buyuk Besiktas Carsisi no:21/303, Besiktas-Istanbul. Mr. Suleyman is happy to help you choose the most amazing fabrics. I will return there whenever I need lovely fabrics for my crafty projects.

Split Neckline Cap Sleeve Tee by Stefanie Japel from Fitted Knits book (part 2)

And I have another FO (finished object): Split-Neckline Cap Sleeve Tee by Stefanie Japel from Fitted Knits book.

I cast on for S size even my gauge was finer: 20 sts/4 ". I made some modifications:

1) I made it shorter.
2) I added waist shaping which is inspired from Picovoli by Grumperina:

Set-up round: k17, pm, k46, pm, k17, pm (side seam marker), k17, pm, k46, pm, k17.
Important note: While decreasing/increasing, 34 sts remain untouched at each side, and increases and decreases are worked over the front/back sections.
Decrease round: K to first marker, *sm, ssk, knit to 2 sts before next marker, k2tog, sm*, k to next marker, repeat between *s, k to end of round;

Repeat decrease round every 3rd round 6 more times.

Knit even for 2 inches (5 cm)

Increase round: k to first marker, *sm, m1(right), knit to next marker, m1 (left), sm* knit to next marker, repeat between *s, knit to end of round.

Repeat increase round every 3rd round 5 more times.

For this project I used 250 gr of Linate CotoLin Gold from Okiteks yarns (the main color) and less than one skein of brown Knitaly from Colorado Yarns (for contrasting color)

Hand Painting Yarn

Last week was for less blogging but I discovered the fun of hand painting yarn. I used Lukas batik powder paints and food coloring powder. I played by mixing the paints, one skein of pure wool yarn felted a bit and now I can say I KNOW HOW TO HAND PAINT YARN. The food coloring powder produces more vibrant colors than Lukas batik, even the last one is a special fabric paint.

The starting point looked like this, lovely hanks of undyed pure wool organic yarn:




And here's what I got:

Sun drying and striking sheep fleece in Turkey

Split- Neckline Cap Sleeve Tee by Stefanie Japel

I liked so much Fitted Knits book! After I finished the Drop Lace Stitch Tank from this book I cast on for another project from the same book. I hope this project will help me learn the top-down knitting technique too. I am using Barbara G. Walker's technique to firmly join into a ring/round front and back bodystitches after placing the sleeve stitches on scrap yarn to be worked later. This technique is described in Knitting from the Top book, on page 116, paragraph 3.

For this project I decided on a self striping yarn, 50 % cotton and 50 % acrylic, Linate CotoLin Gold from Okiteks, another local Turkish brand. I just love the beige color shades.... I cast on for S size and my gauge/tension is 20 sts/4 " with Stockinette st with US 7 (4.5 mm) Knit Picks circular knitting needle.

Drop Stitch Lace Tank from Fitted Knits book by Stefanie Japel

..

And I have another FO (finished object): a lovely very fitted tank. First time I have the perfect fit and I just love Stefanie Japel for this. This one won't go to my mom...

I received Fitted Knits by Stefanie Japel from my swap pal, Destiknit. Lucky me to had have such a cool pal… :)))

I started this project on 24th May and I finished in on 8th June 2008. I used 3 skeins (720 yards) of 100% bamboo yarn from Alize (a local Turkish brand).

Modifications: I added extra stitch repeats to compensate the finer gauge. And, like everybody else, to get a better look of the drop stitch motif, I knit through back loops the knit stitches around all yo’s. I used 4 buttons instead of 3.

My gauge is 25.5 sts/4 ” with US 6 (4.5 mm) Knit Picks Options Interchangeable needles and I cast for M size.

I can't believe I'm crocheting

Thanks to youtube I learned today how to crochet a square from a circle. It's a kind of granny square. I had these odd balls which are bulky weight and was thinking what I could do with them. I think I might make a bag from couple of granny squares. I'm pretty excited and I find crocheting more portable than knitting.

Knit Stitch in Eastern European Knitting style

Purling in Eastern European Knitting Style

Roundabout Leaf Tank by Norah Gaughan from Knitting Nature book

This is my first WIP (work in progress) after my return from Romania and my second project from Norah's book: Knitting Nature. The first project was Droplet Hat. The hat for a swap on Ravelry but I am making this lovely tank for myself. I am using Turkish yarn from Linate Okiteks, CotoLin Gold: 50% cotton and 50% acrylic. It was a true bargain as it's a discontinued yarn and the seller told me it was the last batch. I just adore the color: yellow peach, very close to the skin color. My gauge/tension is 20 sts per 4'' with US 7/4.5 mm needle and I cast on for the smallest size. My nickel-plated KnitPicks interchangeable circular needles are perfect for this type of yarn.

My favorite knitter THIS WEEK ...

... is Katya because of her exquisite work: Cape Collar Jacket by Vladimir Teriokhin. It's a pattern design from Vogue Knitting magazine (pattern #16), Winter 2007/2008 issue. Vladimir Teriokhin is one of may favorite designers too. His beautiful designs are in every issue of VK.

Congratulations Katya! I always admire your work but this one drew my attention instantly.

I am an ebay seller!

Just one week before my trip to Romania I posted 2 skeins of 100% ORGANIC wool for sale on ebay. The yarn is just perfect for hand dying and/or felting. I was surprise to see how quickly it had been sold. Today I posted some more (5 skeins).

For those who are interested in this yummy and soft yarn, click here. I tried myself this yarn. It knits easy and it felts beautifully. I hand painted with natural paints and it works wonderful too. One hank has 186 meters/203 yards.

Back to Istanbul

I'm back. I came back on 23rd April at 05.00 a.m. One week ago. It was a long and nice trip. I visited my parents and my relatives, I knitted a bit, I bought books, I watched TV a lot. I ate Romanian traditional food and I learned how to cook traditional Romanian sponge cake. It takes one full day but it's worth it. I received one old knitting machine from a cousin who was renovating her old parent's home. She gave away many things and I got this old mechanical knitting machine and now I spend lots of time on youtube trying to learn to use it. My cousin lost the manual and completely forgot how it works. The machine is still in Romania, it's very heavy and I couldn't carry it back to Istanbul. I intend to visit again my parents during Summer. I hope I will be able to use it by that time.