Ekstremi(teti) / Extremities

It took me years to muster the will and energy and sort out my stash. And then, after I'd done it, my friends showered me with yet more yarn! It seems I'll need another 30-liter box after all! Ain't life a bitch? ;)

But before the stash event and before I got those lovely, lovely birthday presents, I managed to finish two very extreme knitting projects. Extreme in every sense. A pair of socks (my first ever, would you believe it?!) and a pair of mittens to cover both pairs of my extremities - hence the title. The former in light fingering weight, the latter in super bulky - hence, too, the title.

The socks were an adventure I've wanted to plunge into for some time now but couldn't find any suitable sock yarn. And then, when they got PEKA Salo at my local yarn shop, I knew my destiny was determined! I got down to reading about different construction techniques, various cast-on methods, etc. and opted for Stefanie Bold's Amy Lee socks as they seemed simple enough, suitable for a beginner sock knitter. Besides, I got a self-striping yarn and didn't want a fancy complicated pattern which would only be obscured by the yarn.

And let me tell you one thing, socks are faster to knit than you may imagine, I finished the first pair in 7 days of light evening knitting. And they are certainly easier than they look. But what these first socks really did for me was that they made me fearless - I now know that I can knit anything! I mean, if I can knit a pair of socks in fingering yarn, what is there out there in the knitting universe that I cannot do?! At least this is how I felt when I finished them.





The mittens were an upcycling project. Once upon a time there was a hat. A beautiful hat. A warm hat. A loved hat. Knit in a fabulous, colourful yarn. But made for a head that didn't get along with it very well. Now, I'll avoid frogging finished objects at all costs but there was no point in keeping a hat I didn't wear. So, after a lightbulb moment, I decided to frog it and make a pair of superbulky mittens by Drops. You can choose what they remind you of: oven mitts or astronauts' mittens, but let me assure you that with this snowmageddon outside, they were certainly appreciated and got many an envious look :)

Birthday presents

The first surprise came on the day before my birthday so I was completely unprepared! And I still am! What I found in my mailbox was a gift token for Barka yarn!

Girls, you made me cry, that's how touched I was! Thank you for all the care and consideration and organization that you put into this!



And then, on the day of my birthday, while I was still at my morning coffee, the postman rang and these beauties arrived, a gift from Magrit and Olga. I was tempted to phone in sick at work, that's how much I wanted to stay at home and fondle the yarn!



Neizmerno ste me obradovale, hvala vam do neba! I nazad!

Nagrade / Awards

Evo opet nagrada, ovaj put od Hobiholičarke Tenchee. Prosleđujem ih svima koji ovo čitate :) Osećajte se nagrađenima! Iako je tek četvrtak, lep vikend vam želim!

Award time again, this time from Hobiholičarka Tenchee. I'm forwarding them to all of you :) Feel awarded! And even though it's as early as Thursday, have a great weekend!

Veliko spremanje u hrčkovom domu

Proteklo je, začudo, brzo i glatko, bez mnogo poteškoća i velikih nedoumica. Pobacah sve one male klupčiće, ostavljene za "zlu ne trebalo" ili za "poslužiće već za nešto" a ostavih samo ono predivo koje znam šta je i koje je marke, ili kojeg ima toliko da se od njega može nešto i napraviti. Bilo je teško, šta da vam kažem... ali vredelo je. Sada su zalihe bezbedno smeštene u kutije. Bezbedno jer im ne preti opasnost od moljaca ali bezbedno i zbog toga što ne mogu iskočiti i misteriozno se pojaviti na nekom neočekivanom mestu u stanu, što je do sada bio čest slučaj :)

Za hvatanje u koštac sa zalihama bila mi je potrebna estetsko-psihološka pomoć, za koju sam mislila da ću je pronaći u onim prelepim dezeniranim kutijama koje se prodaju po bolje snabdevenim prodavnicama za opremanje doma. No, videvši im cenu, brzo sam odustala pa su u pomoć priskočile jednostavne kutije od mlečnobele plastike, kupljene na pijaci za trećinu cene.

U jednoj je kutiji predivo koje zovemo opštim imenom "vunica", a u drugoj je pamuk. Treća kutija (koje ovde nema) rezervisana je za konac za heklanje, kojeg nisam ni znala da imam toliko mnogo. Doduše, on zauzima dosta mesta jer je namotan na kartonske kaleme. Sve u svemu, oko 80 litara prediva.





I pre nego što počnete da me kritikujete zbog gomilanja zaliha, a kritika bi svakako bila opravdana, moram vas podsetiti na to da živim u zemlji gde stalna isporuka neke robe nije zagarantovana, gde ako ne kupiš odmah svu količinu vune koja ti treba, sledeći put je skoro sigurno neće biti ili, ako je i bude, predivo neće uopšte biti istog kvaliteta ili će nit biti drugačije debljine i teksture, a o boji da i ne govorimo. Zbog toga, a i zbog godina nemaštine kad su se šećer, brašno i sl. kupovali na džakove jer ko zna kad će ga ponovo biti u prodavnicama, skloni smo devizi "Od viška glava ne boli" pa tako ni ja nisam izuzetak. A kad se to spoji sa već postojećom tendencijom da se ništa ne baca i sklonošću ka sakupljačkim hobijima, dobijete 80 litara prediva :)

Only Serbian this time, apologies to international readers. The post is about sorting out my stash, 80 litres of it :)