Wednesday, April 30, 2008

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.

Monday, April 07, 2008

Saying Hi from Constanta

Hi everybody: I'm still in Constana and don't know when I'll be back. Some administrative issues aren't solved yet.

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

Cable Vest (#17) by Twinkle Wenlan Chia from Vogue Knitting, Holiday 2004

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Another Finished Object: Cable Vest (#17) by Twinkle/Wenlan Chia from Vogue Knitting magazine, Holiday 2004 issue.
I used 5 skeins (500 gr) of Harmony Ironstone Yarns. It's a bulky yarn but I still knit with 2 strands together and my gauge/tension was 9 sts / 4". I used 12 mm Pony circular needles and I cast on 14 sts instead of 12 sts. For the front collar I made one extra cable pattern repeat. Overall, I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. It was a fast knitting, only 3 days.

Monday, February 25, 2008

I fell in love with Knit Picks Options Interchangeable Circular Needles

knitpicks options interchangeable circular needles, nickel plated, knitting needles
Today I received my Knit Picks Options Interchangeable Needles. Wow! WOW! They are so great! I love them. My knitting is more enjoyable now. I was so curious about them, the reviews on the internet are so various and different, but I love them. The cable is so soft and the needles are very light.

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Tomis tank: inspired by Norah Gaughan

tomis tank1
tomis tank2
Inspired by Norah Gaughan's genius work with geometric shapes, this high empire waist tank is my first attempt to write a pattern for multiple sizes. It has a deep V-neck and a lovely A-line shape which is just perfect for those who don't like the idea of an exposed belly. The generous armhole shaping make possible to wear this tank over a t-shirt or shirt or even another tank. Link to this pattern here.

SKILLS: Easy (increasing, decreasing, picking up stitches)

SIZE
32 [34, 36, 38, 40] inch bust


FINISHED MEASUREMENTS

Chest: 33.5[35, 37, 39, 41.5] inches

MATERIALS
Alize Lidya [60% viscose, 40% acrylic; 186yd/170m per 100g skein];
color: LSD 15; 4[4, 5, 5, 6] skeins
1 40-inch US #8/5mm circular needle
Stitch Markers
Tapestry Needle

Tips for replacing the yarn
Replace Lidya from Alize with soft yarns which produce very drape-y fabrics. I recommend blends of acrylic with cotton, linen, rayon or viscose.


GAUGE: 16 sts x 24 rows/ 4” in Stockinette stitch

All rights reserved. This pattern may be used to make items for your own personal use, for gifts, or for charitable donations. It may not be used to knit up items for sale. You may make copies for your own personal use. You many not distribute it in any hardcopy or electronic format.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Priscilla Gibson-Roberts and Barbara G. Walker books

Yesterday was a very a happy day! I got my amazon.com order: 2 books.
Knitting in the Old Way: Designs and Techniques from Ethnic Sweaters by Priscilla Gibson-Roberts and Knitting from the Top by Barbara G. Walker

My swap box: thank you Nancy

Yesterday I got my swap package from Nancy. I sent her 3 skeins of Alize Cashmira 100% wool and was waiting for a Berroco booklet pattern, #271 bonsai.2. But she sent me additional goodies. Thank you Nancy, you made my day. The coffee is so tasteful.

berroco booklet bonsai.2 #271

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

2 FOs for my swap pal: Norah Gaughan's Droplet Hat and Calorimetry from Knitty.com

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Norah Gaughan's droplet hat from Knitting Nature book. It was quite a fast knit (2 days). I hope my swap pal will like and wear it. As an alternative, I knit the Calorimetry from knitty.com. t was another super fast knit (2 headbands in one day).
calorimetry, knitty.com, knitty project, head band, yakamoz, free knitting pattern, easy knitting pattern calorimetry, knitty.com, knitty, headband, cap, hat, knitting project, free knitting pattern, yakamoz himalya, yakamoz, efsun, turkish 100% wool yarn

Friday, February 15, 2008

You Make My Day AWARD

you make my day award, blogspot, knitting, ravelry
Yay! Knitaly awarded me with You Make My Day Award. What a nice surprise! It's the second time I'm awarded through my blog. Now, it is my turn to choose 10 blogs for this award! These are blogs I frequent, even I don't post comments. I like to read them and always find them inspirational. So, ladies and gentleknits, here are 10 blogs I have chosen as winners:


Mama's World - a digi scrapper&knitter

CJ Kopec Creations - adding fiber to your creative diet

LaneDesigns - handmade bags just for you

Purlygrrrl - Sticks & String Forever

Janice ROSEMA - fiber artist

Sulkycat - you couldn't make it up...

Yarn Traveler - life's adventures with family, friends, and lots of fiber

Svetlana - My Knitting Island

BananaKnits - A knitters confessions, opinions and life experiences.

Teeweewonders - Tina - omme i London

Monday, February 11, 2008

Another FO: Norah Gaughan's Capecho

norah gaughan, capecho, vogue knitting magazine winter issue, knitting nature, knitting project, cropped cardigan, pentagonnorah gaughan, capecho, vogue knitting magazine winter issue, knitting nature, knitting project, cropped cardigan, pentagon

It took more than one month to finish this project. I used Alize Cashmira 100% wool for this capecho, my gauge/tension was 20 sts per 4" (10 cm) and I used 4 mm INOX circular needles. I cast on for M size to compensate the gauge (18 sts/4 "). It is still not well fitted but if I would knit this again with the same yarn, I would cast on for S size and decrease the cables to 6 sts. Or, another way is to decrease the numbers of pentagons in the first row with one pentagon i.e. 6 pentagons instead of 7.
norah gaughan, capecho, vogue knitting magazine winter issue, knitting nature, knitting project, cropped cardigan, pentagon

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

finally!

After 3 phone calls in 2 days the staff from getknitted.com added Turkey to their shipping list. Yay! Yupppy! I already placed my order for KnitPicks Options Interchangeable circular needle sizes 4.5, 5.5 and 6.5 mm. I can't wait to receive my order. I am so excited, worse than a small kid.

Sunday, February 03, 2008

still waiting a reply from getknitted.com

I can't find good quality circular knitting needles here, in Istanbul. Actually I desperately want/need 4.5 mm and 5.5 mm needles. These two sizes are not so popular here. I want other sizes too but my urgent need is for 4.5 and 5.5 mm. After browsing through ravelry forums, threads, posts, I decided on KnitPicks Options Nickel-Plated Interchangeable Needle. Since KnitPicks won't ship outside of U.S.A. and Canada, I had to google and to browse ravelry again to find a distributor/seller who would ship internationally. And then getknitted.com came out. Since they don't have Turkey in their country list, I contacted them (very long time ago) and asked them to add Turkey as well. I received an email from Mr. Gail who advised me to choose USA as a destination country but to mention I actually want my order to be shipped to Turkey. Pretty weird. He also said in his email that Turkey would be added soon to their country list. Well, I'm still waiting. In the meantime I contemplate these two pictures.

KnitPicks Options Nickel-Plated Interchangeable NeedleKnitPicks Options Nickel-Plated Interchangeable Needle

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Phazelia's Kauni Vest



Isn't this just gorgeous?

I am the moderator of Knitting Turkey group on ravelry-the online knit and crochet community, and, since couple of days I'm admiring one of our member's work: Phazelia is a very talented knitter. Unfortunately she doesn't have a blog where you an see her work, but she does have a flick account where her wonderful knitted art can be admired. I asked her permission to post here some of her projects.

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

My Urchin Hat

Yesterday evening I cast on for Urchin hat from knitty.com online knitting magazine. I frogged couple of times because I tried to use the w&t (wrap&turn) method as described in Vogue Knitting: The Ultimate Knitting Book. I had to give up being stubborn and I carefully read the instructions for w&t on knitty.com.
I used for the second time in my life a row counter to keep track of my W&Ts. And Barbados from Alize yarns is so gorgeous, so soft. I like a lot this thick and thin yarn. My gauge was 13 sts/4 " and I used 7mm knitting needles.

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Saturday, January 05, 2008

Cleo inspired tank

Today I finished another project: a Cleo inspired tank. I used for this project handspun yarn received from my ravelry swap pal, cjkopec (Coby). I really like this pattern, I think I will knit another one but with thinner yarn, so I can wear it during Summer. This handspun yarn is bulky, I will wear the top on something else this winter.

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It's first time when I'm using handspun yarn. Frankly speaking, I didnt trust handspun yarn till now, I was convinced that nothing can beat the factory-made quality. I was wrong, so wrong. This handspun yarn is so gorgeous, a very soft blend of natural fibers: merino, tencel, mohair and Romney wool. If you've never tried handspun yarns and don't wanna go wrong for the first time, I strongly recommend Cjkopec Creations. Coby is an amazing lady, very kind and very customer-oriented.

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