Ripple Leaf

Finally a finished pair of socks. For some reason I've had a hard time getting into a successful sock knitting mode. There was a recent encounter with one sock pattern that resulted in giving up after three frustrating tries. With Cookie A's Ripple Leaf pattern, however, there was no frustration, just enjoyable knitting. My first time knitting socks with Wollmeise Pure was also fun. I'm aware that without nylon these socks might wear out faster than otherwise, but I don't expect my knitted socks to last forever, so it's ok. Socks wearing out only means I will have a reason to knit more of them (not that a lack of necessity has stopped me from knitting countless shawls). I only wish I'd used larger needles or knit a larger size, because the lace pattern on the leg is so tight they barely go over my heel. I was careful not to make them too big, because I expected the superwash yarn to stretch in use, but I think I left a bit too much room for stretching here. However, they do fit, and they will get a lot of use.

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Prickly Thistle Mittens

I love everything about these mittens: the pattern, the colors, and the fit. The Prickly Thistle Mittens pattern by SpillyJane was also a joy to knit, and I think these are my favorite mittens ever. Knit with Wollmeise Pure in colorways Maus jung and Moses WD, using my DyakCraft Darn Pretty 6" DPNs (my go-to needles for colorwork mittens nowadays).

To deal with the tendency of Wollmeise Pure to twist on itself, I've started using a Yarn Pet from Nancy's Knit Knacks, where you unfold a yarn cake from the outside, and that has helped tremendeously. But knitting these mittens I only had one Yarn Pet (another one is in the mail), so one cake had to be worked my usual way by pulling the yarn from the center, and the difference was noticeable. With most yarns, pulling from the center is no problem, but with Wollmeise, the added twist is remarkable. I also have a habit of re-caking yarns several times (because I like neat cakes), and if you do that by pulling from the center, more twist tends to be added by each winding.

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Camilla

After my tension issues with my previous pair of mittens, I decided to try two-handed knitting with my next pair. So, the Camilla pattern by SpillyJane was the first time I tried holding one yarn in my left hand and the other one in my right. Previously I've done all my stranded knitting with both yarns in my left hand, which has its problems: The yarns keep twisting around each other, and when they are used in different amounts and one yarn gets eaten up more than the other, you have to keep adjusting the tension. I've never knit holding yarn in my right hand before, and I don't think my self-taught technique is quite by the book, but it's surprisingly easy. And regardless of how it felt like my right-hand technique was slow, the mittens knit up pretty fast. Maybe because I saved time by not having to untwist the yarns all the time. My tension seems slightly better, but there are still bunching up problems at the points where needles change. So, there is still room for improvement.

Picking the right color combination took some time and frustration, but I'm quite happy with the Wollmeise Pure Wolke WD and Spinaci combo I finally ended up with. I previously thought the Spinaci looked kind of boring on the skein, but combining it with Wolke seems to liven it up. It's surprising how the right kind of contrasting color can make a yarn look a lot more interesting.

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Ravensfoot

It took me more than a month to knit this hat, even though it's not a particularly difficult or time-taking project, and the pattern is well-written. I just wanted to work on it in small fractions, because, for some reason, I didn't particularly enjoy knitting it. It was, most of all, a utility project, because I needed a black, slouchy hat. The color wasn't particularly inspiring to knit, but I wanted a black hat, so I had to get over the boredom! It's the Ravensfoot pattern by Leila Raabe. Turned out kind of huge, but it seems to be OK, and the brim is still tight enough. I used Skinny Bugga! by Cephalopod Yarns in the colorway Rhinoceros Beetle.

The Ravelry project page