From Russian picture

This was done from a photo and it's done with square stitch which means in this case up and down each row. I was limited to the colors I had on hand and I used large twisted bugles and size 8s.

Crossweave necklace in different colors

crossweave necklace

Learned this at a store in Tel Aviv's bead section.

From Crystals 2

Design is by Deborah Farrand with RAW and crossweave techniques. I used one less repeat to fit me.

another odd row peyote bracelet

new bracelet

odd row peyote with gold preciosa crystals and picots. base is 8s

post office problems

Here in Israel our post office was privatized which I didn't much notice until this week when the papers announced that from Jan 1, 2011, all packages from abroad would have to be examined and for this unwanted deed, the cost would be another $10 added to the VAT and customs. Packages below the total value of $50 would only be liable now for the $10 which would not be going to the customs or tax authority. where will it go? I can only think it will go to make the private post office happy and apparently they want to be in t he same class as UPS and Fedex. For me this is a very big headache as aready all my books have to be valued at below $50 iincluding the postage. Postage on 2 books fromAmazon is $15 and add to that another $10 and each book now had an added cost of $12.50. For me this is just too much. Fortunately I have ordered the Kindle which will not be sent to me here because of the exorbitant customs and VAT. And if this announced new cost goes through, I will have to change my whole book buying procedures which means trying to use the Kindle more and ordering books only a few times a year which I can bring home on my trips abroad. As a knitter I will go and order on places like Ravelry where I can buy single patters for between $5-7 and immediately download them. For jewelry patterns there is bead-patterns and a few other sites. Most of the bead patterns that I like anyway are in magazines and this new ruling won't affect them. But as a trueblooded American who studied why the early settlers revolted when the British imposed the penny tea tax, this really upsets me. Apparently most Israelis are very calm about this unlike myself. My best friend tells me that they will just go on ordering and paying the extra $10.

another Kaffe Fassett

shayelle in baby surprise

Kaffe Fassett pullover

Finished knit projects

Not been doing any fairisles lately, but I think finishing two Kaffe Fassett sweaters make up for it. Right now they're drying but later I'll have pictures. One was in VK Fall 03 and consisted of knitting st st and garter st from sleeve to sleeve changing colors every row or so. lots of ends to sew in and quite a big job. I started it several years back using my Rowan glace mainly. The many colors are in the autumn and red color zone. with some blues and lavendar stuff to change it a bit. The other one Rowan magazine 31, Smoulder, was a more traditional big stripe thing knit from the bottom uo and I changed it from a raglan ( not really sure why I did th at) to a set-in sleeve. It's a cardi and the first one is a pullover which also included doing hems and a sc trim around the neck. For that one (the first one) I really had to pull out all my bag of tricks because at one point I had to cut off an extra amount when I had originally started it for my daughter. I used the Norwegian sewing thing trick. I'm quite proud of it.
I also finished a baby surprise and a small cardi in cotton for my little gd. this second one was with cables and my own design. I'm now at work on the Szabo Cross-country aran Twists and Turns, summer 01, which I made once before in Reynolds Cantata (long discontinued) in an off-white and this time in a very pretty cornflower blue. Also on the needles is a gorgeous absolutely great item for knitters. It's a cable and lace cardi using shetland stitches and this is a pattern from the Bliss Traditional knitting from the Scottish and Irish isles which also has some very nice fairisles. I'm knitting it in a kind of dull pink in a Jaeger dk weight yarn and it's done in one piece up to the armholes. Really great fun to knit,
also on the needles is Fiesta by Irene York which is a side to side cotton top with short sleeves. Again I'm now making this second time around with different yarns. I also have an entrelac in a Noro yarn which will probably have sleeves as it looks like I've got enough yarn for it.
I've started some other projects but they will come out when these get finished. Oh, I'm also working on a small baby cardi from the VK toddler knits books.
But my great hope is that this winter I'll be working on fairisles again from my big stash. They're are several ufos to begin with.

remaining swatches

The swatch on the top left is 15 sts and measures 2.5" wide and has 8 rows. On the top right we have the side panel which is 20 sts and 3" wide. The small swatch is a 4 row cable of 12 sts and measures 2".
Taking a good look now at the pattern, everything works out to measurements. But I might decide to have a break for a seam so I can knit it back and forth instead of in the round.

aran swatch

This is the first swatch from a pattern I paid for and downloaded on Ravelry. I was extremely disappointed in the way it is written because I have no choice now but to swatch each pattern and measure in order to figure out the size I want despite it is written in 12 sizes! Since the yarn I'm using is also machine washable I have to wash and measure again for the right measurement. The pattern was written in a way I have never seen before and hope never to see again. However the picture of the finished sweater was so pretty that I paid $8.50 for the pattern. Usually an aran sweater has a chart for each separate pattern showing the # of stitches and rows and also given a letter title such as A,B, etc. This pattern shows half the sweater which is written to be knit around and only gives the row numbers on the last page of the chart downloaded which makes it extremely difficult and most important of all, the chart is printed so small that even my magnifying glasses for close-up work hardly help. What did help was to use the Windows magnifier program in order to read the chart online and then understand it. The pattern uses twist cables and regular cables and the chart symbols themselves are not that well done. I have told a few knitters that I am disappointed and they seem to have heeded my warning. However I am very stubborn (a trait I got from my aunt Fanny who was not the most likeable person I ever met) and I intend to make this sweater and make it fit me too.

The swatch above is 5"wide and 4" in height using 3.75mm needles and Phildar 3.5 washable yarn. The yarn called for in the pattern is dk which this is. This is the main pattern of the sweater and it has 32 sts and 24 rows. The writer has also made it more difficult as she has split her pattern so that instead of saying to start on row... and end on row... she just shows the rows once more which I have also never seen and find not necessary either.