We went to visit a LYS in Osnabrück called Wollperle this weekend. Check out the photos on their website, it's awesome!

Of course I couldn't leave without buying anything, so I got three balls of Rowan Baby Alpaca DK. So soft!



Also, I finished a pair of socks from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush.

They're done! *happydance*



I gave them to my mother for mother's day today.

Now I'm working on the "Myrtle Leaf Shawl" from "Victorian Lace Today," and on a simple pair of socks. The socks are for the local Stitch 'n' Bitch we've started last week. Chatting, drinking and knitting lace just don't go all that well together. :)

I've finished a pair of socks! Read all about it and look at the pretty pictures in my sock_knitters-entry.

Finally it's finished:



Read more about it in my knitting-entry here.

So I bought new yarn. I had some design ideas floating around in my head, and they had to be made soon, else I would have lost interest in them again.

1. 150g Quick by Lana Grossa, to make this hat:



I'll post the (German) pattern on www.strickmasche.de as soon as I get around to writing it down. If you're interested in an English version of the pattern, please leave a comment here.

2. 100g Rainbow by Lana Grossa, to make two Moebius scarfs; here's the first one:



Never heard of a Möbius strip before?

The pattern is easy as pie: With 8mm needles, cast on 80 stitches, knit in garter stitch for 11,5cm, bind off all stitches. Lay the rectangle you've just knitted flat on a table, fold both ends to the center. Now flip one of the ends, so that the "wrong side" faces you. Sew both ends together. You're done.

3. Using leftover sock yarn (yay for stashbusting!), I knit two pairs of children's socks. One of them is for sale in my online shop.

I'll go update my yarn inventory now.

Last week I got a new haircut and decided to knit a few headbands to go with it. Two of them are already finished – one is a simple eyelet pattern, the other is my first attempt at a pattern that's called "Patentmuster" in German (I cannot for the life of me remember the English expression). It looks the same from both sides and is relatively stretchy.

( headbands )

Today I finished a top from Filati Summertime 2004 that I'd started in April. The shoulder straps/ neckline/ armline part was quite a hassle, and I had to redo it because I'd picked up too many stitches around the armholes. Everything else was a breeze: the black part is all k2p2 ribbing, which makes for a very flattering fit. The garn is Elastico by Lana Grossa (96% cotton, 6% polyester), knit with 3.5mm needles.

( top )

My first attempt at knitting Tychus from knitty's summer issue:

( Tychus )

I used one skein of Lana Grossa's Quick in red and one in black, and I knit with single strands and 5mm needles. I also cast on 40 stitches and went down to 18 before increasing again.

It was really fun to knit, fast and easy, and it's great for using up leftover yarn.