Sailing boats are becoming visible!

Well, what to say? It goes slowly. I have studies going on now so there is so much else to think about. I study in the evenings. And that I am lucky to do, since I got highest grades on my last exam (and first distance course). It is a distance education to become a teacher. I read pedagogy (teaching technologies) for 1 year more, which becomes 2 years since I am only reading 50% of the time. Half-time studies. I have the chemistry and technology credits already. Need only teaching technologies.
Now it depends on me if I can keep the same level on my studies. I just need to continue study evenings.
So knitting is being done now and then. I might knit 2 rounds per evening on the Sweater below.
So here we soon have some sailing boats finished:

I also have another thing going on. I am joining a online Advent Calender with a free pattern from my company (Islina Garn och Design). I am the designer of course.

So I have been writing that down and now I only need to take a picture of the finished stitchcraft.

Now it is time for me to eat lunch and then work a bit before i pick up the kids from kindergarten.

The knitting has been on hold for a month!

I have been very busy with my company "Islina Garn och Design" and with a distance course I am taking. It has been no time left for knitting. I have been studying instead.

But I hope to be finished with another SEGEL sweater soon, which is a Icelandic sweater with sailing boats.

I have to show off one of my latest designs. I took a picture of my daugher Olivia in the lobby at home and put here in nice picture I took when we lived in Iceland. It shows the waterfall Dettifoss. :

The pattern can be bought in English as a electronic file so you can knit it yourself, here:
http://islina.se/en/products/patterns/single-patterns/pattern-hasthjarta-icelandic-children-sweater-with-horses-no-21.html

And then a while ago I finished a simple front cover for a Teal sock pattern (knitted in Álafoss Lopi), which looks like this:

The pattern can be bought in English as a electronic file here: http://islina.se/en/products/patterns/patterns-on-pdf-file/pattern-raggare-teal-socks-in-alafoss-lopi-no-24.html

HÄSTHJÄRTA (Horse heart) - Icelandic children sweater with horses and hearts finished - Pattern description done - Woolen socks knitted

Before I started the horse sweater I finished another pair of woolen socks in Álafoss Lopi. they became apple green and pink striped and looks like this:

The horse sweater I call HÄSTHJÄRTA, which means horse hearts in Swedish. This sweater for children 4-14 years is now finished and I really like the outcome. The red colors is so autumn. Horses and hearts are also perfect for little girls. The knitting description can be found in my online webshop. It can be purchased safely by credit card and will be sent as a PDF-file.  Go and look in the  webshop Islina Garn och Design at:
www.islina.se/en
Here is the final picture of the finished sweater. Now I only need to go out with my daughter and put it on a sunny Autumn day to get a nice picture.

At the moment I am knitting anothter SEGEL sweater, which is a Icelandic sweater with sailing boats. I made the last one to small. It was meant for a colleague of my spouse. So I just have to finish this sweater quickly now. I started the body.

Icelandic sweater with horses and hearts "HÄSTHJÄRTA" started

I have finally started to knit the Icelandic sweater HÄSTHJÄRTA (which means horseheart in Swedish). It is a pattern I have designed myself. It is knitted in Lopi light or Létt-lopi and it of course has hearts and horses in the pattern. This one is for my 4 years old daughter Olivia.
So far I really like it. I especially like the red colors. Olivia wanted some yellow in the sweater too she said so we have that too

More teal socks in Álafoss Lopi (Reynolds Lopi)

I have knitted a few more pair of teal socks / wool socks in Álafoss Lopi. 5 pair actually, but the last 2 pairs are not ready. I need to weave in loose ends and wash them before I take pictures of them. So I will only show 3 of the pairs here.

Here is one of the pairs in size 36, which will be for sale soon:

And then we have 2 other pairs to the right in the picture (the pink-blackish are old):

The blue-greenish socks are for my boyfriend and the brown-blackish socks are for me :)

After I have weaved in all loose ends in the 2 remaining pairs I will knit a Icelandic sweater with horses and hearts for my daughter. It is a design I made myself. It will be interesting to see how it comes out.


Check out my webshop with patterns, yarns and products;
www.islina.se/en

SEGEL - Icelandic knitted sweater with sailing boats

I just have to show a picture of the finished sailing boat sweater, which I finished 1 month ago. I took some photos of my boyfriend in the sweater last weekend. It turned out really nice. I really like it. My own design of course.
Here is a picture of only the sweater:

And then I made a front cover for the pattern description, which is for sale in the net shop Islina Garn och Design (www.islina.se/en)
And that picture looks like this:

I just can not take my eyes if this picture. It is so nice. Maybe my boyfriend looks a bit angry, he was too. He could not look happy he said. So it is nothing to do about that. I hope people like it anyway. I really need to knit another sweater like this soon. But I have so many project on my mind. A lot going on. First I need to finish more pairs of socks.

More hand knitted socks / woolsocks in Álafoss Lopi wool

I have made 3 other pairs of socks in Álafoss Lopi, 100% Icelandic wool.They are really warm, thick and cosy.
A pair of navy blue/white striped socks in shoe size 47-48:

 Then a pair of dark magenta/white striped socks in size 27:

And lastly a pair of black/white/dark magenta striped socks in size 38-39:

Next plan is to knit a pair for my boyfriend in size 43.

Handknitted wool socks / socks in Álafoss Lopi wool

I have knitted 2 pairs of socks in Álafoss Lopi wool. Warm and cosy socks. Really thick. Size 45. I made them for a friend. I hope he will like them and that they fit.
One pair is navy blue/ white striped and the other pair is  dark magenta/ black striped.
Here we have the result:

Scarfs in Can Can and Loopy yarn

When I visites a local yarn store last week I saw some scarfs hanging there. I was a bit excited about knitting something new so I decided to buy yarn and knit some scarfs. I bought one ball of Can Can yarn in blue colors and one ball of Loopy yarn in lilac colors.

They were really quick to knit. I made 4 scarfs out of the 2 balls. Two for my daughter and two for me. This is the result:

And here is how they look while wearing them:

 Now it is time to sew in a zipper in the finished sailing boat sweater. I always wait so long with this since it is not my favourite part.

New knitting pattern for Icelandic sweater in Plötulopi is finished and available for sale

I have finished a pattern description of a Icelandic sweater I designed and knitted for a couple of years ago.It is knitted in 2 threads of Plötulopi, which can also be changed to 1 thread of Lopi light. It is one of my absolute favourite sweaters. I especially like the bright pink color and the simple and typical Icelandic pattern. It also has a sidelong zipper.
Here is how the front cover of the patter looks like:

If you are interested in bying this pattern in english just visit my webshop (Islina Garn och Design) by clicking the direct link below (opens in a new window):
http://islina.se/en/products/patterns/single-patterns/pattern-lycka-icelandic-knitted-sweater-no-20.html

My latest design - Icelandic Sweater with sailing boats - almost completed!

My latest design is almost finished. I am really satisfied with the result so far. I really like the outcome. It looks great, I think. Sailing boats sailing on ocean waves. It will be perfect cold evenings at the sail boat or yacht. When it is windy,a bit rainy and/or a bit cold Icelandic Sweaters are just perfect.
I will of course sell this pattern in my webshop when it is finished. First I need to shoot some nice pictures of someone in the sweater and then write the pattern.
The sweater is made in Álafoss Lopi:

Two sweaters on the needles!

I started to knit a sweater in Plötulopi (1 thread). I got my inspiration from the felted mittens I made last month. So I started right after I finished them. So far I have only done one arm.

We will see how this sweater turns out. I am excited since I am doing it straight from my head. I just hope it will be ok. Of course I document what I am doing so I can make a pattern of it later if it turns out all right.

But then I got an order of a sweater with sailing boats. So I started to design a new sweater and wrote everything down in a new pattern description. After that I could just start to knit. And when I am finished I just need a picture of it and I need to calculate sizes before I have a new pattern to sell. I am making it in Álafoss Lopi, as the original Icelandic sweaters. I have just almost finished one arm. I will continue to knit the other arm and the whole sweater now during my holiday. I need to finish this sweater before I continue with the one for me above.

I have a feeling this sweater will look very nice.

Third pair of felted mittens finished + knitting description

Here comes a picture of the last and third pair of mittens I knitted and felted in the washing machine. I really like them:

The knitting and felting description can be bought in my webshop. Just visit the following link for more information: http://islina.se/en/products/patterns/patterns-on-pdf-file/pattern-tuva-felted-mittens-no-18.html

Here is also a picture of the mittens before and after they have been felted in the machine:

Another pair of felted mittens

I finished another pair of felted mittens a while ago. I just haven't put up a picture. They have a wave pattern. I like them a lot. Here is the result efter felting:

I have also made a third pair of mittens to be felted. They are right now in the washing machinne. I will put up a picture as soon as they are dry.

Felted mittens

I finished them a long tiem ago and now I am knitting another pair. They are knitted in 1 thread of Plötulopi (unspun yarn). It is really perfect for felting. The work will shrink 20% after putting it in the washing machine for 40 degrees celcius together with a pair of jeans and some detergents. I embroidered some cirles onto the mittens before I put them in the machine. Here we have the result:

The result was goog I think, talking about the felting. However, I missed a pattern or something on the mitten themselves. So that is why I am knitting another pair with just zic-zac pattern over almost the whole mittens. It remains to see the result after felting.

Here is a picture before and after felting:

Cute dog in Icelandic knitted dogsweater

I found a dog model and shooted some pictures of the dog in my knitted sweater here outside our house. I just have to show the pictures. One of the sweaters I had already made fitted the dog, whos name is Enzo. Enzo is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and of course I gave the sweater to him when I had taken my pictures.
Here are 2 pictures of him in the sweater:

Are you interested in knitting this pattern you can buy it from me in my webshop as a PDF-file. I also knit on order and sell finished hand-knitted sweaters. Just check it out here:
http://islina.se/en/products/home-knitted/sweaters/

The pattern itself can be found under Electronic Patterns - PDF

Other than this I have not done som much when it comes to knitting. There is just so much else to do at the moment. And I have been a bit low-pitched lately. Tired and low. That is just how it is sometimes. I am still working on my mittens, which I am going to put in the washing machine soon, to be felted. I just need to crochet something nice onto them first.

Pattern for Icelandic dogsweater finished!

I the end I finally came to a conclusion about the dogsweater pattern, which I am now selling in my webshop. The sweater ended up with crackers in the pattern. Here are the 2 latest sweater I have made:

And a pic from the side: 

The only thing missing now is a suitable dog model, who can wear one of these sweater so that I can take a picture for my front cover. I do not know any dog in that size here in Gothenburg. So if you read this and live in Gothenburg you can contact me and get the sweater for free if I can shoot some pictures of your dog in it. Measures are find below. I want a nice front cover for my pattern. At the moment I am just using a temporary front cover. which looks like this:

You can find and buy the pattern electonically by clicking this link (opens in new window)
pattern-hundkex-icelandic-knitted-sweater-for-dogs-no-17

Here comes the measures of the sweaters:

Sweater to the left in the top picture- S 
Fits both male dog and female dog
BACK LENGHT: 39 cm
CHEST: ca 44 cm
CIRCUMFERENCE NECK: 30 cm (strecthable to 44 cm)
CIRCUMFERENCE FRONT FEET: 17 cm

Sweater to the right in the top picture - M
Fits best femal dog
BACK LENGHT: 43 cm
CHEST: ca 50 cm
CIRCUMFERENCE NECK: 33 cm  (Stretchable to 44 cm)
CIRCUMFERENCE FRONT FEET: 17 cm

Two new knitted Dog Sweaters finished - I am not completely satisfied

I finished the 3rd dog sweater, which I started last Month and then I made one more. Here is the picture of dog sweater number 3:

I like it a bit. Not completely. What I still do not like is the figures in the middle of the pattern. And the collar might have gotten a bit too long. I wanted to try something new. However, the ribbing around the stomach I like a lot. That ribbing will definitely be in the final pattern, which I will put in my webshop. In the 4th dog sweater I made the same kind of ribbing, just a bit broader and I also changed color. Wanted to see how it looked like with contrast. Then I also tried to put in something else in the middel of the pattern. I am not that satisfied with it. People, who like big contrasts might like it. This is how it looks like:

Since I am not completely satisfied with my design I have to do another one. I will start it today. I was thinking about putting in dpg bones in the middle of the pattern. I will try that. And I will go with the white ribbing. Not a contrasting color. I might try a light grey to the body. We will see.

Wristwarmers - Fingerless mittens - mitts - Knitted in Einband

I realized in the end of March that I needed to have a pattern of the Month for April. And I decided to make a new one myself in Einband. I ended up in making wristwarmers or fingerless mitts in Einband - lace weight wool. I had to put my dog sweaters aside for a while.

I took the pattern straight from my head. Or I knew that I wanted flowers or leaves or something like that. So I sketched it up in Excel, printed it out and started to knit after my own hand. But oops I did not like the outcome. The wristwarmer was not too good. It was too long, the thumb was to far down and the ribbing was kind of loose. I was not too happy about it. This is how it looked like when it was finished.


After that I changed the pattern a bit. I put the thumb in the right place and made the pattern piece shorter. I like it a lot more. So I decided it to be the free pattern of the Month in my webshop. ATH! Only for customers who pay in advance. They will get the pattern for free. This is how the second wristwarmer looked like when it was finished:


After that I wanted to try another color than red too so I made short wristwarmers in black and lime green. They turned out really nice too:

Dog sweater number 2 is finished!

I finished dog sweater number 2 a week ago actually. But I got sick with fever and was not able to update my blog nor knit. But yesterday I started to knit again. I started dog sweater number 3. I wil make 4 sizes so I have one more to go after that one.

I like dog sweater number 2 better than the first one. The pattern looks nicer. But I will make some changes for number 3. Or I have already made them since I am almost finished with sweater number 3. I was sitting yesterday evening in the sofa in front of the TV and was just knitting and knitting. I forgot about time and that I needed to go to bed instead.
It was when I heard my darling Johan snoring like a nucelar power plant it came to my mind that maybe I too have to go to sleep. But how can I sleep in that loud noice? Well, I use earplugs when I sleep. It would not work otherwise. I can hear him snore in the bedroom with closed door when I am sitting in the living room.
Today I am pretty tired. But that is life. Sometimes it is too fun to knit.

This is how the second dog sweater looked like before washing:

Another Icelandic sweater for a dog in Lopi light finished

I have finished another Icelandic sweater for a dog. It is for small to medium small sized dog. It is knitted in léttlopi (Lopi light). I made up the pattern myself. And I made 2 I-cords to hold the back piece in place. But I am not completely sure if I really like it. First I did not like the pattern too much but now when it is finished and I have taken a picture it looks kind of nice.

Now I will start to knit another sweater for a dog. I will make it smaller this time, also in white, but I will change a little bit in the pattern. We will see if looks better or worse. I will as soon as I have washed this sweater put it out for sale in my webshop (www.islina/en)

Here is a newly taken picuture. I just need to wash it now:

Icelandic knitted sweater VATNAJÖKULL with hood and zipper

Now the sweater called VATNAJÖKULL is finally finished. It took some time since it was both a hood and a zipper on it. If you knit a regular sweater without hood and zipper the sweater is finished after you have washed it. So good. Otherwise you have to cut it up and then sew in the zipper. And you have to crochet a cord to pass through outer edge of hood.

Anyway, I am really satisfied with the sweater. It looks nice. I made the sweater for a guy in the States. I hope he will like it. I sold it to him today so he will not get it right away. But soon!

It is knitted in Álafoss Lopi, the traditional Icelandic wool and I call the pattern VATNAJÖKULL. I have made it once before for another customer here in Sweden. But this time I made the pattern bigger.

Here is a picture of the finished sweater:


And here is a direct link to my webshop, where it was put up:
http://islina.se/en/products/home-knitted/sweaters/icelandic-knitted-sweater-vatnajokull-unisex-s.html

After the sweater was finished I started on another dog sweater. A bigger one for a little bit bigger dogs than chihuahua. It will be white. I have never done a white dog sweater before so it will be interesting to see the result.

I am knitting a new Icelandic sweater - "VATNAJÖKULL"

I got an order from a guy in the States. He wanted me to knit the sweater I call VATNAJÖKULL, but with bigger pattern. So now I have depicted a bigger pattern a and I am just about to start to knit it. It will be interesting to see the result. This is how the work looks like right now:

Knitted and felted underpants in 2 threads of Plötulopi

I have now finished the wool underpants for my boyfriend. He will get them today on Valentine's Day. They actually turned out better than I imagined after felting them. It works really good to felt plötulopi.

I knitted in 2 threads of Plötulopi and felted in the washing machine at 40 ºC (104 ºF) with a little bit of detergent and a pair of jeans. They shrank 20 %. From a lenght of about 40 cm to a lenght of 32 cm.

Here is a picture of the underpants before felting:


And here is picture after felting:


Now I just hope they fits my boyfriend. We will see tonight. I checked with a pair of his normal underpants. They should be fine.

Icelandic sweater with skulls for children

I have had a period of inactivity when it comes to knitting. I have not been very interested in knitting over the last 3 weeks. But now when I am finally finished with the Icelandic sweater with skulls for a 8-9 year old it feels like it could be more fun to knit again. Somehow it was not fun to knit that sweater. It took so long time to finish it. Now I can finally do something else. It is being washed in this very moment. It is lying in conditioner right now to get more soft. Then it only needs to dry flat and I have to put in a zipper. I also have to sho0t a cover for the pattern since I am selling it later in my webshop (www.islina.se/en). I will take a picture of my neighbour's son wearing it.

This is how the sweater looked like for 40 minutes ago:


We will se if I can get a little bit more productive the coming Month. I will at least finish my darling's wool underpants as soon as I can. He is biking to work in -10 degrees celcius and it gets a bit cold sitting on the bicycle seat.

My unfinished knitting projects

I just wanted to make an update about my on-going projects. I have actually 3 projects going on right now. The I am trying to finish is a Sweater for a 8 years old. Take a look at the picture and guess which one it is? It is a Sweater I have made before but for a grown-up.
It goes slowly with the knitting at the moment. I only knit a few rounds every evening.



I am also trying to finish the shorts I am making for my darling. But I am not getting anywere really. If I did not tell you what it was on the picture I think it is very difficult to see. I am knitting them from top to bottom. So next step is to start to knit the legs.



And for a long time ago I started to knit a Sweater for a 1 year old. I forgot about it for a while but I will soon take it up again. Nothing has happened here for about 2 months I thinkt. What a small body it is:

Two pair of regular knitted mittens in Álafoss Lopi

A customer asked me a while ago if I had a pattern for just regular mittens with rounded top in Lopi. Of course, I said. I have them in a couple of days. And the same day I wrote down a pattern and started to knit. Here is the result:



I knitted 2 pairs, sizes S and L. One pair for me of course and one pair for my boyfriend. It was fun to use the multi-colored yarn. So easy to get striped mittens. The pattern is for sale in my webshop as a electronic file.
www.islina.se/en

Another knitted Icelandic Sweater for a Dog finished!

I got an order from a customer, who wanted a Sweater for her dog (Shi Tzu). It was bigger than the usual sweaters I have made. So I had to recalcalculate before I knitted it. I call it a XXXL sweater now in my webshop. I hope it will fit. The sweater is lying flat now, drying. I am going to send it to the custome tomorrow. This is how it looks like. The neck is wide. But I will put in a small silk ribbon in the neck so it is possible to tighten it.
This is how it looks like right now:



After that I have continued to knit the underwear/shorts for my darling.

A pair of blue mittens - Swedish wool mittens

Olivia (my 3 years old daugher found some yarn, which she once got. It was mostly yarn-overs from a Swedish yarn in 100% wool. And then she asked me if I could not knit a pair of blue mittens for her. I said of course YES and started directly. I was quick and finished them in a day. However, I ran out of blue yarn when I had the thumbs left. So I took some yellow yarn for the thumbs and also used the yellow in the pigtails and the embroidery. They look very Swedish (Swedish flag is blue and yellow) and I like them: