By Beckmann

The Family Grows

2011-03-19T17:13:00.000+01:00

Since moving here in october, our family now includes three new members - Folke, Dolly and Gustav.

Folke is a VW truck from 1978 - we are planning to restore her to her original splendor, and then use her for getting building materials, (YARN), firewood (WOOL) and supplies for the garden.

The next two additions are of a more furry kind - Dolly and Gustav - two cats who have deigned themselves to stay with us - we are truly honored. (And sometimes a bit annoyed, but that propably goes both ways).

This is Dolly - she is Gustavs mother. She is always in an immaculate clean state, is a very light sleeper, loves yarn and is a bully!

Her son, Gustav, is the mildest mannered cat I have ever had. He is a very heavy sleeper, and sleeps like a teenager. He does not wash a lot, and loves his dry food and any kind og fish we serve! He is a mousecatcher, and easily scared. He has one very bad habit we are trying to help him with....

He loves to watch TV!!! He prefers something (anything!!!) with birds, people drawing things, political discussions, and any news-programs with a running news-line at the bottom of the screen.
We tell him not to sit too close, and that the bird on the screen is NOT behind the TV when he fails to catch it. Understandably, Carsten is a bit worried about his TV, at times.

Here he is watching the local channel - a show about eco-home-improvement. We are very proud.

And here is Your moment of Zen

Challenged by a true artist

2011-03-19T15:55:00.000+01:00

I have received and accepted a challenge from a true artist, Kaae.

Under the colorful and ambitious label of ´Bollywood´ meets Scandinavian Knitting she is creating patterns that are original, inspired and her very own - and with colors to die for. She also offers multi-color knitting classes, so are You ever in or near Copenhagen, look her up for a truly inspiring afternoon! Details can be found on her blog.

Back to the challenge - I have been given complete autonomy over which colors I want to testknit her Head Scarf in - I have chosen to work with the Tweed300 yarn as it is a 9/2 shetland, excellent for two-color knitting (and maybe also because YOU HAVE A HUGE STASH!!!, Red.)

Hm. Ok. On with it.

I decided to think about it this way: Bollywood design meets the cold, early danish spring and chose the colors I see right now in the garden -
the earthy hues of wet, brown dirt
the spry greens, some that are bitten by frost and turned a little yellow
the warm and light yellow of the early eranthis and white from the snowdrops
And thrown in for hope: purple for the first crocus soon to come.

So, this is my interpretation of Bollywood Spring;-)

Can´t wait to wear it!

Inspiration

2010-10-24T18:44:00.000+02:00

Fall is SO here. My favorite time of year - not just due to the fact that wool is worn as a general rule, but also the gorgeous display nature puts on for us.
I have a few pics from our grounds and garden - see if any of them stirs any knitting ideas in YOUR mind.....
Ivy/vedbend:

Staghorn Sumac/hjortetak hunblomst:

Ivy/vedbend:

Thistle/tidsel:

Hip rose/Hyben rose:

Dawn Redwood/Vandgran:

The Dawn Redwood color is really hard to catch with the camera - it is salmon pink - almost glowing.
So, this is where I get my knitting inspiration - where do You get Yours?

The Move

2010-10-21T21:59:00.000+02:00

Don´t worry - not the blog!

We have left Copenhagen and moved to our farmstead somewhere in the vicinity of the largest castle ruin in Northern Europe, to an island that for Denmark has a warm climate, warm enough to grow figs, and offers the highest number of sunlight hours of the kingdom - a place that generally is isolated from the rest of Denmark a few times every fall and winter due to too much wind for planes and ferries - and where just about 42000 people have chosen to live, love, work, die and last, but not least, create!

Bornholm.

The sunset view from our new home:

It will take us a while to get settled, but I will try to bring to You a mix of nature and knitting for the time to come.
In the meantime, here is a picture of our closest beach...

Our closest mountain.....

And our closest restaurant, Kadeau.....

Love always,
Heidi

VdA AW10

2010-10-21T21:40:00.002+02:00

Again - being a small part of the team this fall was stressful, challenging and as usual extremely gratifying - the show was wonderful!

Thank you, Pia and Prisca, for trusting, daring and believing once more.

Vilsbøl de Arce - Thanks!

2010-02-14T22:44:00.000+01:00

I´ve been involved with two wonderful crafty ladies since december - here is a catwalk shot of the handknitted shoulderpart I did - love the skirt!

I suspect this is not over yet - more links and pics later.

Yellow is the new green! Fuchsia rules!

2009-08-20T13:29:00.006+02:00

Well, ...., what?!
Story goes like this: I was offered a leftover lot of the magnificent Hunters of Brora Tweed on cones - about 18 kilos of it, and in unspecified colors. I couldn´t wait to get my hands on it.
And even though it is REALLY lovely tweedy yarn, 3.5 kilos of yellow was a bit more than I expected to use for the rest of never.
So, asking around for advice for dyeing large batches of wool into solid colors I decided on the Lanasyn (acid dye) method, as it could be done in your well aired kitchen, and in managable batches.
Purchasing the few ingredients proved fun and very affordable. Dye, vinager, ammonium sulfate and a surfactant (I think) called Lyogen. And an old battered camp-site soup pot with a spigot for emptying (as it contained 30L easily).
And I was ready to go.
By the way, the oven underneath contains the worlds first eco-pilot light. As the mice had moved into the insulation of the oven when we took over the house, I decided to clean it all out due to the smell, including the oven door and all. We now light candles in there in the evenings to bring a cosy feeling to the kitchen.
Back to the dyeing:
The wool had been washed and dried in huge hanks. 100-250g a piece. Here is the first try with a fuchsia on 700g of yellow in a 20L batch.
And things got heated:
But fun! And with that huge amount of water you have plenty of time to control the process and knit in between. Dyeing, cooling, rinsing, spinning, drying, washing and drying again gave this wonderful rich and full color:
I think my mom will love this.
Then onto the greens. First I did a batch with a 2% turquoise on the brightest 900g of the yellow, this time in 25L.
Note the almost empty dishwasher in the back! Yes, house chores were also done while the dye process was ongoing. This batch turned out an iridescent green with yellow tweed effects. My favorite! Then I decided to throw caution to the winds and try a 30L batch, 1kg of wool, 0.5% green, 0.5% bright yellow.
And here we go:
This little mortar brought back almost fond memories from organic chemistry lab classes.....almost. Then into the pot:
And the colors darkened:
Almost edible!
So, after two full days of staring into a huge pot of near to boiling water and a lot of anxiety I ended up with this:
And I can´t wait to dye some more! I would say: 112% succes.

For all non-danish readers: this is NOT how we danes live, this is what our old house on Bornholm looks like inside: primitive, downtrodden, and totally perfect for messy dyeing and yarn fun. The house is undergoing a total restoration, but we love it As Is in the Now. Functionality over looks any time!
Next post should be about the knitting, right?

Sleeveless in ... Pafos?

2009-05-01T17:29:00.006+02:00

It´s been a while.

There, that´s that taken care of!

Grötö Knitting Festival is worth mentioning - imagine 90 knitting women on a small and picturesque island off the coast of Göteborg, Sweden. And only a 4 hour drive from Copenhagen across the bridge. This including an al fresco lunch at Hallandsåsen.
Charlotte and I picked up Eva in Lund, for the most inspiring weekend of the year, knit-wise!

Though we were the only two danes of the lot, we felt extremely welcome, and only a little embarressed taking home with us, the title of Fastest Knitter in Scandinavia (264 sts in 5min, with a cold start, 20 sts cast-on). The prize, not only included the Honor, but also a small Addi Knitting Machine, that immediately was named Rulle-Marie after the Danish Defence Bomb Dismantler Robot-Thingie. She has so far been extremely useful, and truly merits a blog-entry of her own.

Taking a course in Bohus Knitting was for us like having soaked dried chick peas in water - spry and suddenly a lot more interesting! Charlotte mumbled: Kaffe Fassett meets Bohus Knitting.....and we were off, again. I suspect we will give birth to a few new ideas over the next year, which will NOT be Bohus Knitting, but our own interpretation thereof.

We did not want to leave.

Easter was kinda eventful - my SO Carsten was closing in on the big 39.95 and had decided to run for it - and we ended up (literally!) in Cypress, in our own villa for 10 days, just north of the Coral Bay Pafos area. Litterally Sleeveless time! Balmic and fragrant, in short. Orange trees and rose pepper trees blossoming and gills actually emerging along our ribs, so much wonderful fish they served! Picking your own oranges and following the goats (they are on the right side of this next picture) up the mountain trails, (great legs, Heidi!) being treated with freshly made creamy goats cheese with sugar on top for pudding the same night at the local taverna. Always ending the meals with a small glass of the VERY local Filfar, an orange peel-local herbs liquor, completing any meal to perfection. On our last day, we decided to pack and drive half way across Cypress to Nicosia and spend the night right up against the wall to Turkey - we walked along the wall next morning for a few hours, experiencing a mix of sadness and horror how the city has just been cut in two. One end of a street could be full of shops and cafés, the other end of bulletholes and barbed wire. Apart from this very evident separation, Nicosia was beautiful and very interesting, and we will be back one day for sure. (And in connection with The Holiday Inn right up against the wall, we recommend the Italian restaurant there, especially their shell fish/peperoni gnocchi and their interior decorations!)

Knitwise this is just one pic of one of the thousands of mosaics from their roman infestation around year 5-600 AD. NOOOOOOO INSPIRATION FOR KNITTING. AT ALL. NOPE. NONE.
This next picture is a curiosity - walking the streets of Nicosia, we saw this:

If you zoom in, you can see the greek grafitti just over the door handle. That fight will NEVER die.

Well, Cypress was just wonderful, the people there welcoming and helpful, the weather just right and the fact that all rental cars had red licence plates greatly comforting, as it took a while to get used to driving on the ´wrong´ side of the road. Rental cars are called Tommies down there, and we cashed in many overbearing smirks on the mountain roads, especially when they saw that it was `THE WOMAN´ driving and Carsten reading the maps. But we prefer it that way when we travel.

So, I have not stopped knitting. Not one bit. My health is improving, finally, and some of the nasty chemo is off the list now. I get iron treatments (IV) once in a while, and followed up by weekly, self administered EPO injections (Jeg har taget doping) my red blood cell count is up and under control. Phew.

Woman With Huge Stash - and not afraid to use it!

2008-10-06T17:12:00.006+02:00

This entry is dedicated to Sanne - in gratitude for all the awards she has bestowed on me, and to all my new friends who started Hogwarts with me this september - seven years in total is too short a time to spend with you guys!

There is a new love in my life.
He is small, but not too small, a bit heavy at the bottom, but that is actually an advantage. His circumference is just so, and the tip is pointy, but not too pointy. He is soft to the touch, but firm enough to get the business done. He is always at hand, and has never known performance anciety. He can go on for hours, and I recommend all (knitting) women or men so inclined to get one.

Here is a picture of him, doing what he does best:

He is called a ´yarn-thingy´ and the top holding the yarn swivels on a stick in the middle. Excellent. No yarn on floor scooping up dustbunnies, no yarn tangled around legs of chairs or SO (significant others), and when doing double knitting, both yarns can fit on there, and as you mostly (back to this point later) use equal lengths of each yarn in double knitting, it works just as well with a twosome.....Sorry for his intro, but it´s not that kind of blog!
In regard to double knitting! I offered to help out Spinningmaid, aka Ann Kingston, the designer of the amazing Hogwarts Sock Collection, with a Christmas Present. She wanted to make her son Aidan a scarf, but the pattern chosen, a lovely Selbu-inspired one, done in Fair Isle, yielded a really thick and heavy 4-layer piece of knitting. We talked it over, and decided that double knitting would solve it, and make it half as thick, and twice as fast to knit. I offered. Ann sent the pattern, and mentioned that it would be nice if his name was readable from both sides. Hm.

A challenge!
And lo, I rose to it, and learnt a new technique. Fun, not-too-difficult and only one small mistake easily correctible from the next row:
So now, noone can tease Aidan and call him Nadia!
And no, I do NOT knit Christmas Presents for all my friends! (only for those who ask nicely).

So, how about the daring StashBusting?
Well, in Octobers Potions Class at Hogwarts, (HPKCHC on Ravelry), we are supposed to knit with as many yarns as possible, or with as many colors as possible in the same project. I went to the stash, and took out all the balls of Tweed300 and Hunters of Brora thickness (same) of which I had only less than 100gs left. This is what I found:
A little frightening, that is just the meagre leftovers.........I really hope to reduce this pile radically! And there will be lots of time during the project to commune with the yarn - here are The Reds:
Yummie!
Plan is to knit a poncho with sleeves (do you need more, really?). Yes, as I wear them out, they are so comfy. I will find a zig-zag-pattern and then just mix my heart out. A perfect project for the next two weeks, I will spend here:

I know this is a summer picture, but that is the feeling you have when you are there. Two weeks of knitting, laughing and light gardening with my parents and Carsten.

I am very tired these days, but as it is a constant, you learn to cope. And as long as you are happy and feel like you can do whatever you want (well-dressed in a nap and a cup of coffee now and then), life is good.

Life is hard - but then you dye!

2008-08-12T14:53:00.006+02:00

This posting is dedicated to Kaae.
She was the one who persistantly insisted that you could dye wool with CoolAid. And easily dye both wool and silk with silk dye on a vinegar base in your microwave.

And after that wonderful day in Jane´s garden, she had me convinced. I decided to try on my own, and after having found two containers of CoolAid in the back of the cupboard, I had the means as well. (Orange and cherry - sorry if I offend anyone, but it tastes disgusting, but the colors are great!).

So, vacation time finally there, and a garden at hand (and perfect weather for fooling around outside with water) I followed her directions and did this:
First make skeins of your yarn of choice. Here three skeins of white sock yarn, 85% wool, 15% poly-something. Then I soaked the wool in 1:1 water/vinegar mix for at least 20 minutes to get rid of any lipids or dust in general. I have used about 30g of CoolAid in about 200ml of a 1:2 vinegar/water solution, and after wringing out the yarn from the initial soak, carefully plan how you want it to look. I decided that white parts in between the colored ones would only heighten the color-play. On this picture I have soaked a 50g skein. Soak for 15 min and then place the whole thing in the microwave and nuke the curls out of it (4 x 2 min at full effect). Make sure that the white parts are still wet with the vinegar solution, so the yarn wont burn.
After nuking, leave as is till completely cool, then wring it out carefully (here the garden and especially the weeds come in handy, they don´t like vinegar and CoolAid, killed me off some nettles during the process, huzzah!) and hang till all dry, stiff and smelling of.....orange and cherry!
The sock yarn is the three skeins on the right, the two long skeins are dyed with CoolAid as well, but one in each color, in a bigger bowl (about 50g of CoolAid/skein and 500ml of water/vinegar). Make sure the yarn is covered by the dye in the microwave.

When I wrung out the bigger skeins, the vinegar left in the bowl was clear - all the dye from the CoolAid had been transferred to the yarn. The two big skeins are a 1-ply 100% lace-type wool. A pleasure to dye and work with.
When all dry, rinse well in lots of cold water (be careful not to felt the wool, just dip and press) and then wask in the washingmashine on a wool program (30C, almost no stirring, 800 rpm, very little soap if any) to get the residual sugar out of the yarn, dry again and wind on a ball-winder.
Here you see the yarn after the final wash.

And weirdly enough still smelling a bit fruity! I have learnt a lot doing this, but one thing stands out: I will never drink CoolAid again.

Here is a close-up of the finished coral (cherry) red wool. Love the color play.

Well, the next day I got a bit more gutsy. I took out the silk dyes I bought at Panduro and mixed plum, moss green, warm yellow, marine blue, cinnamon and dark brown into different containers. I mixed them 1:2 with the 50/50 vinegar-water, while the yarn of choice (this time a silk-wool-linen mix, some more 1-ply wool, and some pure natural silk) was soaking in a bucket of the same mix.
Here is the silk-wool-linen mix dyed in a thin marine blue solution, in a tehcnique I call: Too Cheap Now, Heidi. I had mixed too little color for the two skeins and would have had to break into a new container of dye, when I realized I quite liked the result! So I just added more of the water-vinegar mix till the yarn was covered and nuked it as before. Love the resulting yarn.

I call the color Blue Velvet. I am knitting the Forest Path Stole in this yarn now.
This is an example of the wool dyed with silk color, I call this one: Now I know where the kids were.

From left to right:
´Husband doing the white laundry´, ´Blueberry Roast Beef´, ´Pistacchio Mistacchio´, and the ´Now I know where the kids were´.
I also dyed silk: from left to right:
´Malenes Attick´
´Plums Away´
´Old Tractors´ and
´Rattlesnake´

Here are the original skeins before winding:
the two sky blue silks, Malenes Attick, Old Tractors, Rattlesnake and Plums Away. And then the 4 skeins of wool: Pistacchio Mistacchio, Blueberry Roast Beef, The Kids and Husband doing the white laundry.
I thoroughly enjoyed myself, it was easy to get a great result, I painted the dye on, I poured it on, I dipped and wrung, mixed, stained and flung. And they all look great, even the combinations where I spilt an unwanted color on my yarn......
So, go! Free your inner colors. Try it blindfolded, or in the dark or as a color relay (in these olympic times): one starts, another finishes!
Good luck, can´t wait to see the results!

The Long Sleep (or Sheep, maybe) is Over

2008-07-18T19:28:00.008+02:00

The Child is back home. By child I mean a time consuming, constant and most welcome disturbance in the home. Two of them are actually mine, and as I have two homes, well......

The small and beautyful upright belongs to Charlotte.

Immediately after having collected it from Karen (not IN the car, I mean) but when we arrived in Janes garden, I spun this:

122g of the softest Spelsau lambswool. My mum cleaned, carded and gave it a first light wash, and it practically spun itself. I will be keeping my mums wheel (back left) in Copenhagen, it is just a tad better than my own (the front wheel) which will be placed at Bornholm.

At Janes birthday we also explored our abilities (stretched them, more likely) into dyeing yarn.

I do not have the final result of my yarn, yet, as it has not been washed. But until then, the colors look fine!

I call this colorway: old rhubarb.

By the way, it is cotton flamé.....done in a microwave oven with vinegar and silk dye. I am SO heading for a fiasco - and we had SO much fun.

Quandering Questions: Why is wool-gathering considered a bad thing?

Yadiyadiyadah....tell us about The Knitting!

2008-03-11T23:50:00.005+01:00

Well, I´ve had a few bouts of Startitis:

This is an example of my knitting desk during an attack of acute Startitis. All the little white notes are each representing A Project.

Carsten remarked, he could not see any reason for not beginning all of them. Now. I remarked, I only had two hands. He remarked maybe I could get them all started over the weekend? He´s a Prince among men.

Well, I ended up starting the following:

Firehazard

AAA - Acrylic Adaptation Anonymous. I really just liked the colors on this skein, and it was actually quite soft!

Green Foreverness:

This is the luxury project. 2.5mm Turbo Lace Addi Needle, Nikolaj Wool-Silk-Alpaca Mix, 612 st on the round to be transformed into the following:

From Vogue Knitting Winter 07/08 issue. Lovely sweater, notice the detail on the sleeves. A wedge by the elbow-elegant!

I also begun a sweater from Hønsefødder og Gulerødder in Kauni and RIO:

This is a childrens sweater, made larger (quite a bit, actually) to fit me. It has a hood and I add the RIO as I go, whenever I feel like it, (or remember to, more like it).

Love the Kauni mix knitted like here, garter stitch on needles 3.25mm (exactly the Falkenberg gauge....go figure?)

Come winter, come spring.

Come Startitis, come Enditis?

I also managed to finish some huge projects:

First, another double knit wonder inspired by Kaffe Fassett, here modelled by its proud owner, Mum (She won´t let anyone else touch it, actually).

It is made in Kauni mix (curry, blue, brown) and two colors of Peterhead that blend right in, a blue and a curry color. It´s light (450g), warm and a lot of fun to knit. I love the way the Kauni sometimes disappears into the Peterhead, when similar colors meet. Another victory for Double Knitting!

I also finished Hanne Falkenbergs Cordelia, in my own color choice:

I left out the longer cuff to fold up as I wanted a better fit into the sleeves of a jacket. Otherwise I followed the pattern for a Large, and it fits fine. A lovely project, pattern and design.

I also finished my Squares Galore, another double knit/Kauni adventure, that turned out really nice:

I love the way the colorchange in the Kauni manifests itself so very different from side to side. The contrast is a mustard Peterhead lambswool.

In the thralls of Enditis I also took up some old projects, maybe the next ones to get done:

a hooded cardigan from Feminin Strik, with a lovely lace rim all the way up the front, ending on top of the hood. Here made in one end of Peterhead in a cinnamon color and one end of a thinner lambswool, in a light cinnamon mix color.

I am making it longer and wider than originally intended, a huge Hoodie for Hiding on weekends.

And I picked up this old shawl I designed ages ago, called the Bubble Wrap, also in Peterhead, this time a golden tweed mix with blue splots in it:

It catches a lot of air in the bubbles, making it extremely light (4 mm needles) and very warm.

My health deteriorated further. On top of Startitis and Enditis, I also caught the horrible Planitis! (No treatment currently available)

So, I had to plan two new projects, this time in Dunlin, the linen-cotton mix I´m so fond of.

First one kept me up a few nights, it was so lovely:

It reminded me of the 80´s, summer and all good things. I immediately went through Therapy (The Stash) and came up with this:

The Avid Reader (read: annoying one too) will notice that one of the skeins is not linen-cotton, but something looking remarkably like wool.......Bingo. A small amount of Peterhead sneaked it´s way in there, but the color was just SO right! And a little Peterhead around the shoulder-area will feel snug and soft! And the Dunlin-Peterhead combo is brilliant in its own right, so I´m not a total pioneer after all. The model is a Shiri Mor Design from the Vogue Winter 07/08 issue.

So is this, by the way:

From Vogue, I mean. I will make it up in Dunlin, in the following colors:

The big ball on the left side is a white-beige mix, and the small one on the left a clean sand color.

I think it will look lovely.

So, I have not given up knitting, as you can well see.

And then there are all the socks!

But that is another adventure all together.

Good night, and sleep tight.

Roof off, roof on......

2008-03-11T21:24:00.005+01:00

The barn was built wrong. In 1895. Or somewhen around then. We found out about 100 years later. How is that for a late wake-up?

So, after Jon (The Neighbor) and his father literally tied the barn walls together to stop them leaving.......eachother (!) consequently dropping the roof onto the ground. We went over one weekend to take the way too heavy roof off the barn. The roof was made of concrete, and the construction underneath was dimensioned for.....toiletpaper or something. Anyway, the roof had to come off, before we could tighten the wires and get the walls back into place. If you look closely at the wall to the right of the opening, over the datemark, you can see lines and cracks..... THAT ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE THERE!

Carsten is afraid of heights, by the way, and his legs were really sore the next day - not from active, physical work, but from the shaking underneath him!

Notice the 80´s quiltet jacket-Kansas overall combo. Love him in that outfit!
This is Jon. They worked each at one side, Jon was half a roof ahead at times. And the weather was wonderful. What was I doing? Well, besides bringing coffee and lemonade,

I was cleaning the inside of the main house. My parents were arriving that night to give us a hand, imagine my fathers eyes when he saw the whole roof off turning into the courtyard that night!
But we believe he was happy not to be spending the next few days on the roof!
Done!
Four cups of coffee, some lemonade, and 5 hours. Roof off.

For the record, we spent the next four days shovelling and handpicking the crushed tiles up from the ground. In freezing rain and gale-like wind. A huge thanks to my parents for helping out!

Next chapter: Easter. Roof on?

Did Mrs. Eiffel Knit?

2008-03-11T13:20:00.004+01:00

Well, she must have had plenty of inspiration - look at these photos:

Filled with intricate cablework (litterally!) and interesting joints, struts, pillars and angles. I saw cables everywhere.

Paris was lovely - all we had heard and more. A nighttime sailing trip on the Seine, after a day in the Eiffel Tower, litterally had me in tears as we approached the Notre Dame. We always do the corny, touristy stuff when we arrive in a new city - we believe in making up our own minds about things, and was blown away in Paris.

Here is a picture of me approaching the Louvre (the egyptian collection: more knitting inspiration) and look at the weather.....

We will be going back, no doubt. And we found the french friendly and open, even though our french is really poor - a few laughs were shared.

So, Sacre Coeur, Montmartre, Montparnasse, La Cité, Louvre, Notre Dame, Place du Tertre, Place Concorde......we will be back.

I guess it was the happiest time I ever spent without knitting?

PS On this last photo I was carrying in my left hand a small project, the Musketeers Socks (Ravelry - Bybeckmann).

Breakfast of Champions

2008-02-05T18:54:00.000+01:00

This is my breakfast - my favourite cup (Denby Stoneware, gift from Carsten), my favourite fruit (organic Max Havelaar banana) and my medication. In my book, medicine makes you feel better. But not this kind. This gives you nausea, heat flashes, aches in your joints, dizziness, sleep deprivation and concentration problems. This is every morning, and lasts till noon. Next pills are not until dinner, and not as many.

So, when people, family, friends, anyone really, asks me to be somewhere before 10 in the morning, I would really like to! Love to, actually. Knowing that it will involve dizziness, severe sweating, extreme nausea and risk of a headache, I often say: how about 11? Or maybe lunch?

But, I am totally confident the medication works. My job is to not let it bug me too much, take it in stride and KNIT MY WAY OUT OF IT. Please pay attention to the picture again: the sun is shining.

I had all 65 kgs of Peterhead out on the floor right behind the table. 65 kgs of Peterhead is about 15 square meters of yarn - 15 square meters of PURE THERAPY! For almost a week, Carsten valiantly accepted the fact of the extreme need for yarn therapy! He actually remarked that he hardly noticed it! (Truly a King among Knitters Spouses) And our place is not that big......

So, next time I need therapy, I will jump straight into the Tweed300 stash - though only containing about 40kgs, this is the yarn of Hanne Falkenberg.........and I have all her patterns......

Keep the pills coming! I´m game!

2007 Status

2008-01-02T00:54:00.001+01:00

I finished 60 projects in 2007. 36 in 2006. What should my goal be for 2008?
Asking me right now? 60
Wishful thinking? 100
At least? 2
So, I hereby commit to finishing .... a lot of projects in 2008. Including two new double knitted shawls - one for my mum, already moving along nicely, and one made to order, yarn bought, needles found, pattern ready. And socks, loads of socks.

I have also founded The NPKG - The Non Procrastinating Knitters Guild, with Charlotte! We will finish one Christmas present a month! Beginning now.

The title of Log Lady has been transfered to me officially for January. I will retire to this place:

In the sincere hope that Snow Will Fall! I will bring loads of yarn, books, warm underwear and music, and just wait for nature to do it´s worst. (And I am usually not disappointed!)
The Log Lady Title is appointed to a person actually physically having to administer firewood to heat generating contraption to keep warm, that being either stove, bonfire or fireplace. In my case also involving chainsaw and hydraulic cleaver. Excellent.

So, no news from me till february! No internet, no phone, and hardly any TV (takes a few days to defrost the remote in the winter).

Beckmanns Commandments: Do not leave Your home for a month without bringing knitting to last You at least two!

Queer Quandaries: How much more knitting can You do in one month, if You don´t have access to Ravelry?

Cat´s out, and so is the bag!

2007-12-26T04:28:00.000+01:00

The Felting Void - II
The Cat is Out, survived, and are now parading around Elsinore (Helsingør) containing stuff like flattening irons and lip gloss - and loving every minute of it! Who wouldn´t want to be a fly on the wall in the life of a 17 year old?

It is truly loved and appreciated, which makes it worth all anciety and nail-biting. So is the Marimekko bag I made for my sister-in-law.
This has been lined with white silk, and decorated with small glass beads to heighten the details of the flowers. I also felted Pins to use for these two scarves:

Both are made in double knitting in Peterhead. The first is called Vigdis Flowers, inspired by Vigdis norweigan patterns, the second is called Purling Squares, as the squares are purled on a stocking stitch background, to learn that as well.

The pins were knitted in Peterhead, felted, decorated and sown onto pin needles.

My niece (with the cat) recieved Vigdis Flowers, my sister-in-law the Purling Squares.

Christmas was filled with warmth, love and........a lot of tactics and alien shoot-outs! Every year Carsten and I buy a new game for Christmas, escaping into space or big holes in the ground- this year we played Mass Effect on the XBox 360 - and we are no way near half way through! Really great gameplay! And great for progress on that UFO that has been resting for over a year - this time Cordelia by Hanne Falkenberg in Tweed 300 in green colors.

Being finished with all-but-one Christmas presents (did not have a heavy cold added to the rather tight schedule - Jane, I will send it for you when it is done!) I am now more than ready to pick up all the UFO´s I started november and back.

Keep You Posted?

The Felting Void

2007-11-25T22:19:00.000+01:00

Tomorrow. I. Will. Felt. The. Cat.

I hate those 1h 45m it takes for my washer to go through the shortest 60C wash. I keep staring through the window, only to find a pair of yellow eyes staring accusingly back at me, like saying: Had we not had a lot of fun together and now you are on the outside, and I am in here?

First, finding the yarn, and knitting all the bits and pieces, the careful stuffing and placing of parts, the loving and thorough binding off and securing of all loose ends, the final placement of eyes, that are the windows of the soul....the embroidery of nose, mouth and ears, to give smell, voice and sound to you. And then I place You with the dirtiest and smelliest towels and dishcloths and press start.

Disconcerting. To have someone stare at you, while they turn and shrink, and shrink and turn, in 60C water. How would I feel?
So. Tomorrow.
I guess I am not the only one not looking forward to this?
Well, then again, a cat has 9 lives, right?

PS I bought you a nice juicy brown mouse to play with, when you are dry!

Foto of the Nicky Epstein Book: Fabulous Felted Bags

Tagged!

2007-11-13T17:28:00.000+01:00

Jeg er blevet tagget!

SanneB har tagget mig! Glad og beæret, og alt alt for sent på den, tager jeg udfordringen op.

Jeg er mere til A5 end A4, og mere til blyant end bits
Jeg elsker at være alene med mig selv
Jeg hader let havearbejde - arbejder helst med traktor, kædesav og buskrydder
Jeg hader at shoppe
Mine bedste ideer kommer gerne ved 4.53 - tiden
Jeg elsker at planlægge, forberede og koordinere
Jeg bryder altid kæden

Breaking the Vows! (I)

2007-11-13T13:32:00.000+01:00

For Dad - wearing them with warm feet! Possibly also on the golf course. Named Fast n´Furios, fast due to the lack of patterns, braids and cables, furious due to the long, tedious 2+2 rib.

For Mum - in our favourite designer Kaffe Fassets choice of color. Gorgeous yarn! (Regia). Braids, hourglass heel, but with picked up st on the second half, and a toe, where the side braids eat the st in the middle, and meet in front. Called Braid Yourself.

Elephant Socks, the pattern is a slip-stitch pattern that apparently looks like small elephants turned upside down. Knitted from shaft to toe. Warm and soft due to the extra thickness of the slipped st. For me! And knitted in yarn from old stock!!!!!
As I would never do a pair of Neverkont socks, I immediately started a pair for my mum when I saw the Opal Fellings. And they are a lot of fun to do! The Tree of Life in the rib came out quite well, I think. Called Standing Square, a homage to my mum and a hint of the geometry.
Braid Yourself for Charlotte, in blue Arwetta. Lovely yarn.
13 more pairs are designed and on the way, I am limited by the number of 2.5mm dpns. And by the fact that some are for presents! (You will have to be patient and curious. And have cold feet, of course!)

Beckmanns Commandments: Feet on the table, please!
Quandary Questions: Why so much yarn in the world, and so little time?

Keep Feet on Ground?

2007-11-13T12:05:00.000+01:00

I will never knit socks with cables, braids or more than one color.
I will not buy more sock yarn till I have used up the lot of the stock.
I will never knit a black pair of socks for anyone.
I will never add any projects to Ravelry (I´m bybeckmann in there), as I have a fine system working here at home.
I will never use my Message Box in Ravelry.
I will never begin more than one or two projects a day.
I will never write my blog in english.
I will never watch tv with my laptop in front of me.
I will never regret not having internet access at Bornholm.
I will never crave hearts and comments to my projects - if I am satisfied, that should be enough.
I will not buy more sets of 2.5mm dpns.
I will never get out of bed earlier than 5 am just to knit.
I will never design anything before 5 am in the morning.
I will never look for sock yarn in all the stores I enter.
I will not always bring at least 2 different sock projects when leaving the house for more than 10 minutes.
I will never wear shoes unsuitable for the weather just to show off my new socks.
I will never knit when in pain or bleed on yarn.
I will never forsake my blog for Ravelry.
I will never..... oh, heck. Who am I trying to fool here?

(I have banded the tip of my right hand index finger with sports tape, so I won´t bleed on the yarn, pain is not too bad anymore.)

Beckmanns Commandments: The kettle is black!
Quandary Questions: How many New Years Eve Resolutions do I have to keep, to make up for braking all of the above?

I just love the smell of chainsaw oil in the morning!

2007-11-02T12:30:00.000+01:00

Blev vækket ved 7.30-tiden af motorlarm, og mødtes af dette syn allerede inden morgenkaffen!

Bornholms Regionskommune var de eneste der turde fælde vor store poppel. Det viste sig, at der muligvis ville være opstået problemer, havde vi ønsket at få den helt fældet, da de på de nederste 2 grene allerede havde problemer med deres kædesav med blad på en meter!

Her er et godt billede af størrelsen på det hele. Liften er 25m høj, og i kurven befinder de to kædesavs-kyndige med medbragte kædesave. Kurven svinger frit, så de oplevede tit at blive søsyge!
Til højre ses et kig til selve haven om huset, samt vort gule hovedhus. Den laveste længe til venstre låner naboen til gamle folkevogne.

Her er et billede taget sydfra, hvor de er ved at tage den besværlige gren ned, der hænger ind over vor ene længe og vor gårdsplads. De tog et lille stykke af gangen, skar det af, lagde det ind i kurven, og flyttede så liften fri af taget, så de kunne smide det uden at ramme lastbil og bygninger.

Og vupti! Så var den nede..... Det tog dem ca. 8 timer, to mand og 4 kædesave, at få den ned, men uden nogen form for skade på folk og bygninger. Vi ville ikke have den helt fældet, vi vil gerne se den skyde igen og så bygge et fuglekig ovenpå. Tænk at ligge deroppe og kigge stjerner, eller bare sætte sig derop og strikke! Der er næsten kig til Dueodde deroppefra.

Her er min hue placeret på en af de mindre stammer. Nu skal vi bare rydde op. Så de gæster vi får i Huset fra nu af, må godt lige medbringe deres motorsavskørekort samt pudse deres kløve-meget-store-kævler-med-kile egenskaber af.

Vi er glade for den er væk, den store gren over huset VAR flækket, og ville ikke kunne holde til en god storm. Og dem er der mange af på Bornholm om vinteren. Og den er jo ikke helt væk og vil smukt springe ud til foråret, da hovedstammen er fin og sund.

Jeg fik ikke strikket meget den dag......

Søvnløse spørgsmål: Er poppel godt til strikkepinde, og hvor mange kan man lave af 25 rummeter træ? Og hvad nummer er en strikkepind der er en meter tyk?

Beckmanns Bud: Heller et træ fældet end fældet af et træ.

Skal lige fælde et træ

2007-10-28T23:44:00.001+01:00

Ja, det er endnu engang bevist, at en Punto kan indholde glæde og garn nok til at slå terapeuter, psykologer og dårligt vejr.
Vivian var flink nok til at byde på diverse stimulanser, udover garnet, og forhåbentligt ikke alt for svimmel da vi gik. Der var da lidt garn tilbage på lageret.

Jeg kom hjem med MEGET. Evilla, 8/2, 8/1 og Opal strømpegarn, ca. 3.5kg ialt. Og tak til De Tre Musketerer, der bare forstår og en specifik tak til Charlotte der matchede mit forbrug krone for krone, til Karen for næring til at kunne stå igennem strabadserne og til Lone for at give køb på regler og forsæt og pludselig springe ud som helstøbt pusher!

Billeder af rovet følger - skal lige til Bornholm og fælde en 38m poppel. Men alt garn er viklet........

En for alle.......

Det blev et sjal!

2007-10-23T11:13:00.000+02:00

Stenen er vor helt egen indkøbte granit (når man bor på Bornholm er det jo et must) og den er på størrelse med en varevogn.

Her er et billede af aflæsningen:

Jeg har strikket kanten foroven lige op i siderne og bare fortsat til ønsket bredde, og har derefter taget masker op I MØNSTER, skiftevis een m på den ene side, og een på den anden, hele vejen fra overkant til overkant, så kanten også er dobbeltstrikket.

Tror ikke jeg gider strikke mere. Det var mit ultimative projekt, kan aldrig lave noget så flot igen, alt strik fra nu af er bare kedeligt og monotont.

Måske skulle man dog alligevel overveje at lave et til, bare i nogle andre farver...........og et andet mønster måske?

Beckmanns 3. Bud: Lad dig aldrig personligt involvere i dit håndarbejde, det er som at skære en navlestreng over når man lukker den sidste maske. (men det er jo det der driver os!!!!)

Dagens Søvnløse Spørgsmål: Når jeg om lidt henter Kaffe Fassetts 190 Patterns fra posthuset, hvor meget søvn får jeg så i nat? Og hvor meget garn går der til?

Poncho drunk LOVE

2007-09-28T18:21:00.001+02:00

Og så er der jo alle mine ponchoer?

Startede med at fryse i London (var flygtet fra hospitaler, piller og navnligt de offentlige myndigheder en uges tid sidste år: 7 dage alene i London. Fik strikket en hel ensfarvet Mermaid i den dejligste grønne Tweed300)

Nå, frøs, og drønede ind i min favorit tøjbutik (et-eller-andet Edwards, på Oxford Street) og skulle finde en sweater. Faldt over en poncho. Med ærmer. Var helt solgt. Hvordan kunne det være, at det stykke overtøj jeg ikke vidste jeg ikke kunne undvære kunne findes i London? Nå, den var acryl (øv), i et creme-kaffe mix, men den var lun og dejlig.

Da jeg forlod butikken havde jeg allerede allokeret en del af det hjemlige garnlager til kopiering og videreudvikling af ideen.

Første kopi var i 1 tråd hvidt pladegarn (fra http://www.sypus.dk/) fra Istex, 1 tråd brun Pure Nature (en Tweed 300, men uden kemi og farve, i fårenes egne farver, har købt fabrikkens restlager) og en tråd af en 23/2 100% lambswool i en beige (også en rest).

Den poncho holdt jeg varmen i hele sidste vinter, på cykel, i sne og slud og i 10 graders frost. Fantastisk. Og meget slidt. Den er nu pensioneret til Bornholm, hvor jeg elsker når vejret er koldt nok til man kan tage den på.

Her et billede fra nytåret iår, taget fra genboens indkørsel- koldt? Gården ligger bagved træerne til højre, de to bygninger til venstre er nogle lader og udbygninger. Bagved ses vores dejlige poppel, der nok må lade livet iår. Nå, mere om Bornholm en anden dag.

Så da foråret kom var jeg klar med endnu en poncho, denne gang uden hætte, men med en dejlig krave, og med hyldetræsknapper fra Middelaldermarkedet i Østerlars og perler fra Netto. Nu i oliven pladegarn, med en tråd sandfarvet Tweed300 samt en tråd af den tynde lambswool i olivengrøn.

Her ses den i hel figur, omfavnende en mindre een til Amalie på snart 3, der denne vinter skal lune sig i en tråd pladegarn i gammelrosa og en tråd mørk lyng Tweed300. Moderen Britt har naturligvis også een i en tråd rødt pladegarn og en tråd brunmix Pure Nature (Tweed300).

Så lavede jeg een til min mor i en tråd Tweed300, men denne gang med hulmøster op til ærmegab og albuer, og glat for resten. Der er strikket en pind Rio ind i overgangen mellem de to mønstre. Og der er hæklet rundt i kanten i halsen med samme Rio.

Og sidst, men absolut ikke mindst: KAUNI. Denne gang dobbelt Kauni. Har forsøgt at lave ærmerne ens, og har kun strikket den i dagslys, da farveskiftet jo helst skulle komme synkront.

Mangler endnu at hækle een, at forsøge mig udi bomuld til sommer samt at lege noget mere med hulmønstre og rib i modellen.

Og så klart lave Den Helt Rigtige: 100% håndspunden Alpaca (1 kg, 600kr, Butik Salam, Skindergade):

Så dagens Søvnløse Spørgsmål: Kan man sy en lama uden at være dyrlæge?

Beckmanns andet Bud: Hvor meget garn skal man bruge til en weekend, når Manden har købt en ny X-Box 360 Halo Edition?

Jeg når nok at få Kaffe-sjalet færdigt...........

Når en poncho har ærmer, er det så en Gencho eller en ponter eller måske en ponje? Eller måske en trøjser? Giv et bud.

Beckmann

Ja, og man mangler aldrig skruer ved montering!

2007-09-28T17:45:00.000+02:00

Man kan her tydeligt se en side og begyndelsen til en hylde! Og ingen fisk, dyveler eller skruer - ren IKEA. Uden IKEA altså-

Spøg til side, hvorfor jeg ikke har skrevet længe forklares snarest - dem af Jer der er rendt ind i mig de sidste par uger ved, at dobbeltstrikningen rider mig som en mare, og jeg sætter selv de hårdeste deadlines. Men lidt er det da også blevet til-

Først en lille billedserie om dette lille tørklæde i dobbeltstrik, og i Peterhead:

De to sider er splittet, og en rosa og en grøn erstatter hver en farve i grund-delen, og indgår i to nye sider med dobbeltstrik, der atter samles (her er der vist en fisk alligevel!) til enkelt og ligefremt to farvet dobbeltstrik. Når jeg så har strikket ´rundt om halsen´ skal den anden ende af tørklædet puttes gennem denne dobbelte del, og det vil sidde godt under en frakke.

Mulighederne er uendelige.

Jeg har også gang i et andet dobbeltstrik-projekt: med to farver Kauni - den varme er den jeg kalder gylden mix, den kolde er beige-hvid-grå - kopierede jeg Kaffe Fassetts valmuer, der altid har facineret mig, og kastede mig ud i følgende:

Har regnet med, at der kan laves kant når jeg rammer de 22 valmuer i bredden, og med pli kan der nås een til to rækker om dagen, og så kanten.........der forresten skal være stribet i dobbeltstrik i de to farver, selvfølgelig! Måske jeg tager det på i Næstved?

Dobbeltstrik er sjovt, og som sagt er mulighederne uendelige - og her vil jeg citere en anden: hvorfor strikke een strømpe, når man kan strikke to samtidigt? Det bør vel være mit næste forsøg udi kunsten?!

Ellers: kanter forneden på bluser, manchetter, frakker der kan vendes, kanter på hætter, forkanter på trøjer, vanter, tasker der filtes, bare kom igang!

Kan man strikke en bogreol?

2007-09-17T16:29:00.000+02:00

Noget jeg har tænkt over siden min bror drillede mig med mine første forsøg udi strik, da jeg var omkring 5. Indrømmet, de første projekter var på den faste side, men i mine øjne imponerende. Og med naturlige knaphuller, randomiserede ind- og udtagninger, løbemasker (jeg udviste tidligt stor diversitet udi komplicerede teknikker) samt den sødeste flæsekant, placeret smagfuldt i venstre side. Eller højre.

Hvordan lærer vi? Ved at stille spørgsmål.

Idag ved jeg, at man nemt kan strikke en bogreol. Igår strikkede jeg et skib.

Inspireret denne dag af helleristningerne på Bornholm, imorgen måske af NASA´s rum program?

Tak til min bror for hans velmente drillerier - de har lært mig aldrig at sætte grænser for hvor ens ideer kan føre hen. (Han var desuden selv en habil strikker og lavede skolens længste slange i håndarbejde).

Dette er en ny blog, tankerne flyver, og falder lidt over hinanden, men jeg vil starte med to rubrikker der vil indgå jævnligt:

Beckmann´s Bud og Søvnløse Spørgsmål.

Beckmanns 1. Bud

Alt kan kaldes en strikkeprøve, indtil man forlader huset med det på.
(Kan anvendes mod den dårlige samvittighed over at have 1348 projekter igang samtidigt)

Dagens Søvnløse Spørgsmål
Er der opfundet et strikkeplaster? (muligvis fra Knittotinell?)

Keep passing the open yarnsales.....

Beckmann