Ružičasta vanila - Purple vanilla

Prilično je vremena prošlo od kako nisam postavila post o pletenju. Nije da ništa ne pletem, nego manekenka nije naročito voljna da se slika, a i vreme nikako nije htelo da se prolepša, pa nismo imali ni zgodnu pozadinu.
Elem, ovaj prsluk sam isplela još u februaru. Mustra se zove Wild Vanilla. Divna je za pletnje, ima puno pletenica, taman dovoljno da vam pletenje bude zanimljivo, ali ne i preterano opterećujuće. Prsluk se pokazao kao veoma praktičan za nošenje, Ema ga je nosila gotovo celu zimu. Ima i jedan zgodan detalj na leđima, malu pletenicu koja ustručuje prsluk, ali nikako nisam to uspela da prenesem fotoaparatom (na vebsajtu dizajnerke ćete pronaći mnogo bolju sliku).
Za izradu sam koristila predivo Troitsk Yarn My Baby i igle br. 3,5.

It's been quite a while since I've posted about my knitting projects. It's not that I've given up on knitting, it's just that my model is not willing to be photographed, and the weather has been so bad recently that we just couldn't find the right location for the photoshoot.
Anyway, I finished this vest in February. The pattern is called Wild Vanilla, and I've used Troitsk Yarn My Baby and 3.5mm needles.
The pattern is a joy to knit. It's got lots of cables, just enough to keep you occupied while knitting, but not overwhelmed. The vest proved to be a very practical piece of clothing, my daughter has been wearing all through the winter (and it has been a loooong winter).
It has also got a cute little cable at the back that makes a great detail, but I just couldn't get a good photo of it (check the pattern web site for a much more successful photo). 

Orange Tempest

Ovaj džemperić je bio završen još pre nekoliko meseci, ali princeza nije bila voljna da pozira. Srećom juče sam je uhvatila u dobrom raspoloženju :)

Rađen je od prediva Troitsk Yarn Deluxe, sa duplom niti. Jedino su nabori rađeni sa jednom niti.

Ovo je prvi put da koristim ovo predivo i mogu reći da sam zadovoljna njime. U štringli nema čvorića, nit je ujednačeno upredena i lepo se pere. Posebno mi se dopada što se nudi široki raspon boja, pa zaista možete birati. Uputstvo za izradu je besplatno i možete ga naći ovde.

 

 

I've finished this cardigan a few months ago, but little miss Princess wasn't in the mood to pose for it. Luckily, I caught her on a good day yesterday :)

I've used Troitsk Yarn Deluxe for this project, double stranded. Only the yoke was made with one strand. This is the first time I used this yarn and I'm pretty satisfied with it. It washes well, there are no knots in the skein and it's spun evenly. I especially like the wide range of colours the company offers.

The pattern is free and you can find it here.

Za jednog Relju i jednu Kalinu - Baby Relja and baby Kalina

Svet je bogatiji za jednog Relju (dete naših kumova) i jednu Kalinu (ćerkicu suprugovog kolege). Da bismo im poželeli dobrodošlicu, odlučili smo da im poklonimo nešto iz moje „radionice” - portiklice i peškiriće sa izvezenim motivima iz knjige „Cross Stitch Alphabets” autorke Sue Cook. Jako mi se dopadaju ova izvezena slova i u knjizi ih ima čak 50 različitih vrsta, tako da samo tražim izgovor da izvezem još koje.

The world is a richer place now that Relja (our best man and maid of honour's son) and Kalina (my husband's colleague's daughter) have arrived. To welcome them, we have decided to give them something from my "workshop" - a bib and a baby towel with cross stitched letters taken from the book "Cross Stitch Alphabets" by Sue Cook. I have enjoyed making these letters so much and there are 50 different alphabets in the book, so I can't wait to find a reason to do some more.

Moj jednogodišnji projekat - A year long project

Prekrivač sam započela prošlog leta i završila ga skoro tačno godinu dana kasnije.
Plela sam sa St. George Tango pamukom, ali na žalost nisam izmerila koliko je prekiravač težak pre ušivanja postave, pa sad ne znam količinu. Prvo je počelo kao ćebence za Emu, onda je Ema porasla, pa je onda trebalo biti veće ćebence, i na kraju je preraslo u prekrivač za njen krevet.

Tokom tih godinu dana sam naučila sledeće:

1. Uvek je dobro imati u kući jedan ovakav projekat, kojem se možete vratiti kada god neki kraći bude gotov, a vi ne znate šta da pletete. To će vas sprečiti da odjurite u prodavnicu prediva i navrat-nanos kupujete vunu, jer vas „svrbe prsti” (meni se to često dešava).
2. Uvek je dobro plesti projekte koji se ne ušivaju, odnosni čiji se delovi ne sastavljaju, pa kad jednom završite sa pletenjem, završili ste i sa projektom. Ovaj prekrivač je rađen „Log Cabin” sistemom, tako da kvadrat/pravougaonik nastaje podizanjem očica iz prethodnog.
3. Uvek je dobro da kada u zemlji Srbiji kupujete predivo gledate da kupite dovoljno, a ne po sistemu „biće toga i kasnije”, jer neće biti. Barem ne iste debljine, boje ili nijanse. To sam naučila težim putem.
4. Uvek je dobro, a čak i najbolje, kada imate prijateljicu koja je vešta sa šivaćom mašinom, pa može da vam pomogne oko postavljanja prekrivača. Hvala bensedin art na veeeelikoj pomoći sa ovim projektom :)

I started knitting this bed cover last summer and finished it almost exactly a year later.
I've used St. George Tango cotton, but unfortunately I didn't measure the weight of the bed cover before sewing the lining, so I have no idea about the quantity of the cotton used. It first started as a baby blanket for Ema, but then Ema grew bigger, so it was supposed to be a regular blanket, but in the end it turned out to be a bed cover for her room.

During this year I have learned the following:

1. It is always a good thing to have a project like this around the house - a project that you can go back to after you finish a smaller one and don't know what to do with yourself. This should stop you from running to the closest yarn shop, buying the first thing you get your hands on, because your fingers itch from the lack of knitting (this happens to me a lot).
2. It is always a good thing to knit projects that don't require sewing pieces of it together. So, when you're finished with the knitting part, you're basically finished altogether. This bed cover was made using the "Log Cabin" pattern, by lifting the stitches of a square/rectangle to make a new one.
3. It is alway a good thing to buy the whole amount of yarn that you need for a project at once (at least in Serbian yarn shops), and not to rely on the shop having it later as well. Because it won't. At least not in the same colour or weight. Learned it the hard way.
4. It is always a good thing, and perhaps the best, to have a friend who is handy with the sewing machine, so that she can help you with sewing the lining. Thank you, bensedin art, for all the help with this project :)

Kivi devojčica iliti Napad panike (My kiwi girl or A Panic Attack)

Znate li onaj osećaj kad vam se jedan projekat približava kraju, a vi uviđate da nemate isplaniran naredni? Ona pitanja u glavi - Šta ako ovaj projekat završim večeras? Šta ću ujutru da štrikam? Ili - Sutra je nedelja, a prodavnice sa predivom ne rade! Šta ću da radim do ponedeljka?

E pa, ova kivi haljinica je rezultat tog napada panike. Jednog petka popodne, navrat-nanos, Ema i ja smo otišle u St. George da izaberemo predivo. Na brzinu. Bez razmišljanja. I kupile St. George Una 23. Kao što sam mogla i očekivati predivo se rasteže i pušta boju (vrhovi bambusovih igala su mi kivi boje). Ali, kol'ko para tol'ko muzike. Dobra stvar je što će, s obzirom na stepen rastezanja prediva, Ema moći da nosi haljinicu još godinama.

Mustru sam takođe odabrala na brzinu, mada se tu nisam pokajala. Moram da priznam da mi je odlučujući faktor bila jednostavnost mustre i preslatka devojčica na slici.

* * * * *

Do you know that feeling when your project is getting near the end and you slowly realize that you haven't planned another one? Those questions in your head - 'What if I finish this project tonight? What am I to knit in the morning? Or - It's Sunday tomorrow and all the yarn shops will be closed! What am I to do till Monday?

Well, this kiwi wonder is the result of such a panic attack. On a Friday afternoon Ema and I hurried to St. George yarn shop to pick some yarn. In a rush. With no thinking. And we bought St. George Una 23. And, as expected, it stretches and the colour runs (the tips of my bamboo needles are now kiwi coloured). But, you get what you pay for. The good news is that, having in mind how much the yarn stretches, Ema will be able to wear the dress for years to come.

I chose the pattern in a hurry, as well, but I have no regrets about it. Although I have to confess that the deciding factor was the simplicity of the pattern and the cutest girl in the photo.

Haljina za devojčicu - Little girl dress

U poslednje vreme sam bila baš zatrpana poslom (što je, u principu, dobro) ali i nekim drugim manje dobrim obavezama, pa baš nisam stigla puno da pletem. Kada mi prođe dan a da nisam sela bar 15 minuta da se družim sa svojim iglama imam osećaj kao da je dan bio izgubljen.

Ipak, uspela sam da završim Little Sister's Dress na vreme da mala princeza stigne u njoj na rođendan kod svoje najbolje drugarice iz vrtića. Pretila je opasnost da će joj biti pretoplo u ovoj haljini (taj dan je bilo preko 20 stepeni), ali smo haljinu ipak obukli.

Recept za haljinu je savršen, ništa nisam morala da menjam, tako da ga od srca preporučujem, čak i pletiljama početnicama. Jedino što zahteva veću debljinu prediva, tako da sam ja za dete od 2 godina plela najmanju veličinu (kao za 3 meseca). Eto potvrde da je neophodno uraditi gauge pre nego što počnete plesti (iako ja to nerado radim, jer jedva čekam da počnem novi projekat).

Koristila sam St. George predivo, Una 23. Ovo predivo nikako ne bih preporučila početnicima, jer se jako lista, pa morate biti dosta pažljivi da podignete celu petlju.

Još jedan podvig vezan za ovaj projekat je to što sam sada prvi put plela "kako treba". Naime, do sada sam prave petlje plela "through the back loop", misleći da je to jedini način. Međutim, nije. Sada kada sam plela "through the front loop", pletivo mi je puno ujednačenije. Trebalo mi je dosta vremena da treniram ruke da pletu drugačije, ali vredelo je. Isti problem sam imala i kod krivih i očica, tako da sam se i tu prevaspitala. Čovek se uči dok je živ :))

* * * 

I have had tons of work lately (which is, basically, good), but also some less than pleasant obligations, so I haven't had much time to knit. When a day goes by without at least a quarter of an hour of knitting, it is a day wasted.

Nevertheless I managed to finish the Little Sister's Dress in time for the little princess to wear it to a birthday party for her best friend from daycare. There was a serious danger that the day would be too hot for this dress (it was more than 20 degrees that day), but she wore it anyway.

The pattern for this dress is flawless, I didn't have to change a thing, so I wholeheartedly recommend it, even to beginners. It did ask for a thicker yarn, so for a two-year-old I knitted the size for a 3 months old baby. Just goes to show how important it is to do the gauge before beginning the project, which I rarely do because I can't wait to start a new project.

I used St.George Una 23 thread. I would not recommend it to beginners, because you need to be very careful when sliding a stitch, for it tends to break apart into individual threads.

Another personal victory connected to this project is the fact that this is the first time I have knitted something "the correct way" (if there is such a thing). All these years I have knitted "through the back loop", thinking that is the only way to do it. However, it is not. Now that I have switched to knitting "through the front loop", my stitches are much more even. It took some time to train my hands to do it differently, but it was so worth it. I had the same problem with purl stitches, so I changed that as well. You live and learn :))