Quimper Stripes

Breton stripes are a huge thing here this year.... and if you are 11 you have to have a breton shirt.

Or you ask your mother whether she can knit one....

So here is the result: Quimper Stripes.

It is quite a simple sweater, but with Brettony stripes, a nice small roll neck and a bit of waist shaping. It is knit in one of my (at the moment) favourite yarns: Madelinetosh Tosh DK. The white is "antler", the blue is "Betty Draper Blues" . And yes the lure of that yarn is as much the name as the colour itself....











I hope to have the pattern ready somewhere in April....

And the little cat (our Totoro), he broke his leg 2 weeks ago and he is a very sorry little cat. He's getting better though (caught a mouse even with a broken leg just today), but he had to be in the picture!

Water Lilies

Last year I had a lot of meetings...I did a lot of doodling....

And one of these doodles became this little cardigan. The doodle had some dramatic pleats and I did like that, so I wondered whether I could actually make it into a knit. I knew the yarn to be used had to have drape and it probably would work the best in a fingering weight yarn. Which is of course not a problem since there are so many gorgeous yarns in this weight around. Since there is some contrast between the stockinette and reverse stockinette, I think this works best in a hand-painted yarn. The box-pleat has some unexpected columns that don't show immediately. Each front panel has a pleat while the back has a central pleat. Since it is mainly stockinette, it is only making the pleats which needs some extra attention.











The first cardigan I knitted, I used Jitterbug "Monet" and the knitted up fabric really reminded me of the "Water Lily" paintings that Monet made, so WaterLilies it is. The second cardigan is knitted in MadelineTosh Merino Light "Nectar" and this is a really lovely dusty rose-coloured yarn. And yes water-lilies again...The Jitterbug is just slightly thicker than the Merino Light and the cardigan has just a slightly different feel to it. Also the MerinoLight is a singly ply and that makes a difference too.

In both cases I was careful and alternated the yarn every two rows in order to avoid funny colour differences or pooling. The pattern is available in sizes 4-5 (5-6, 7-8, 9-10) years with actual measurements at the chest: 68 (72, 76, 80) cm; 26.5 (28, 30, 31.5)”.

And after standing still since mum is making dull photos.... this is what you do:

Little Summer Dress

Summer is finally here so time for easy clothing....

Last year I made small summer dress for M which she really liked. It was easy to wear, not too warm and a simple design with a bit of embroidery. I knitted it in Jaeger Trinity which is discontinued unfortunately. That yarn is like a thinner Rowan Summer Tweed and I really like it. Since I really wanted to make this into a pattern I thought it would be better to make it in a yarn that is available in shops. So I reknitted it in Debbie Bliss Amalfi and made it into a pattern. My first one! And I extended it to 3 sizes! I hope it works out, I feel still nervous about it but it is a nice nervous feeling. Marit is quite small and thin so I really hope the sizing is correct. I used tables (of course) but still... I guess this is just normal for a first pattern also meant to be knit by other people, the jitters I mean.











I just choose the Amalfi because I liked it (it has a bit of a rustic feel, not a dainty yarn) but really any DK yarn with a nice drape will work (think linen, hemp, bamboo, viscose or whatever). It's a pretty easy knit, you only need to know how to knit, purl and decrease. There is a bit of grafting for the underarms, but I think this is advanced beginners level.











I am asking for test knitters now and I will try to publish the pattern on Ravelry as well, so just be aware this is a real first pattern and there might be tons of mistakes! Feed-back is really welcome.



And just to end with a picture: this was the one I knitted last year:





I did add an extra scheme to the pdf on the 21-6. Just to clarify how the markers are placed and how the short rows are knitted.

The updated pattern can be downloaded from:

<a href="http://www.ravelry.com/dls/marjolein-thunnissen-designs/38399?filename=Little_summer_dress.pdf">download now</a>

Totoro Dress

For once this will be a knitting blog. Doesn't happen very much but I needed a place to write about this dress. Anyways here it goes,

Marit has been watching Totoro over and over again and I have to admit I am a fan too. She loves the Tororo's and she has been singing the song all day long as well. So on saterday evening I got an idea. I had some Blue Sky Alpaca's dyed cotton in my stash since about a year ago and I always wanted to use that for a dress for her. The main problem: no dress that I really like. well that's not really true, I like "Oh Jan" by Wendy Bernard but i had already knitted one for big sister and I didn't want to do it again. So the yarn stayed in my stash and nothing happened. Until Saterday when I had an idea: a Totoro dress!

The main idea is a quite simple dress with pockets adorned with small Totoro intarsia knitted motifs. The main shape of the dress is inspired by a denim dress of the Gap that Saskia got five years ago. Marit is wearing it now and it is a quite a nicely shaped dress. It has a rather full shirt with a straight body and it is rounded at the hem for a nice drape. It has buttons at the front along the whole dress but i didn't want to copy that. Instead I thought a small opening at the back with two buttons was nicer. So that's what I based my design on. Just above the border which is knitted in seed stitch I have added some small rows to give the hem the same rounded form. The contrast band and all the borders are knitted in seed-stitch and the pockets have small seed stitch borders too. I will try to give the pattern directions below as well as I can and since big sister wants a Tororo dress too I will try to make a big version too but that is in the future... The pattern is written not very neatly and I will try to make it better in the coming weeks but this is the fast and dirt version...

Yarn: Blue Skye Alpaca's dyed cotton 3 skeins Tomato (619) (MC), 1 skein Shell (606)(CC)

Needles: 1 pair 4.5 mm straight needles, 1 40 cm 4 mm round needle

1 marker

2 small buttons

Gauge: 17 x 23stitches = 4x4inches. The dress is 57 cm long, at the bottom 55cm wide (110 in the round), at the middle 30 cm (60 cm round)

Seed stitch: row1 k1,p1,k1,p1 etc end with p1, row 2: p1,k1,p1, etc finish with k1.

Back

Cast on 92 in CC on 4.5 mm straight needles. Place a marker after 46 stitches. Knit 8 rows in seed stitch. Switch to MC and work in stockinette (knit on right side, purl wrong side). Knit to 25 stitches after the marker (71 stitches total) yarn forward as if to purl, slip the next stitch, yarn back as if to knit, turn the knitting, slip the 1st stitch on the left hand needle (the one you are wrapping) purl to 20 stitches beyond the marker and yarn back as if to knit, slip the next stitch, yarn forward as if to purl, turn the work. Slip the first wrapped stitch and then knit to the wrapped stitch and knit the slipped stitch and the yarn wrapped around it together to m ake one stitch. Knit 9 more stitches and wrap next stitch as described before. Purl back to wrapped stitchand purl the wrapped stitch and the yarn wrapped around. Purl 9 stitches more and wrap next stitch. Knit to the next wrap stitch and knit together, knit 4 more and wrap next stitch. Purl back to wrapped stitch, knit together and purl 4 stitches and wrap next stitch. Knit to the next wrap stitch and knit together, knit 1 more and wrap next stitch. Purl back to wrapped stitch, knit together and purl 1 stitches and wrap next stitch. (In total 4 short rows at 25, 35, 37 and 39 at either side of the marker). Turn and knit to wrapped stitch, knit wrap and stitch together and conitinue to the end. Next row purl to wrapped stitch, purl wrap and stitch together and purl to the end of the row. Work in Stockinette for 31 cm during which 20 decreases at either side have to be made as following K2, k2tog continue knit until 4 stitches remain SSK k2, purl next row. The decreases have to be distributed evenly over the 31cm, approximately alternating every 2nd and 4th row. After last pair of decreases (now 52 stitches on the needle) ending after the purl row work 2 more rows.

Change to CC knit 1 row. Continue in seed-stitch for 7 more rows. Change to MC, knit in stockinette straight for 6 cm

Armholes: In next two rows cast of 5 stitches at beginning of the row (42 stitches), decrease 1 stitch at either side for next 3 rows. Purl 1 row. Decrease 1 stitch at either side in next row (total 34 stitches). Work 3 more rows ******

Next row knit 18 stitches, turn work and leave rest scarp yarn. Knit first 4 stitches of next row in seed stitch (this is in the middle of the back) and continue the other 14 stitches in stockinette. After 3.5 cm make a buttonhole in the middle by, work 2 stitches in pattern , yarnover, work rest stitches in pattern.

Continue until distance from beginning armhole is 15 cm end with a right row. Cast off 6 stitches from the middle, continue. Next row: knit to the end. Next row: castoff 7 stitches. Next row cast of remaining 6 stitches. For the remaining stitches, cast on 4 stitches at the middle and continue with same shapings as the first part.

Front:

Work as back until ****** Continue straight until 12 rows less then when final stitches were cast of for the back. Knit 14 stitches, turn, purl back. In the next rows cast off on alternating rows 4, 2,1 and 1 stitches from the center, 6 stitches remaining on the needle. Work 3 rows ending with a wrong side row. Cast of remaining 6 stitches. Work other half in reverse. Put the 6 stitches in the middle on a safety needle ( will be used for neck border).

2 x Pockets: Use drawing as a guide. knit 2 rows at bottom and 2 stitches at either side in seed stitch. Place pockets on front piece and attach by sewing.



Putting together: Darn and neaten all pieces of yarn. Seam shoulders together as well sides (I use mattress stitch for the neatest result). Pick up and knit 55 stitches with 4 mm round needle for each arm. work 3 rows in seed stitch, cast of in knit. start at left side of the back pick up and knit 14 stitches at the back, 11 at the front side, 6 from the middle (where left on the safety needle), 11 at the other side of the front and 14 from the back (56 in total). Work 4 rows in seed stitch. Make button hole at the buttonhole side. Cast of in knit. Darn and neaten last peices of yarn. Sew button strip in place. Sew on two buttons.

More rain

Unfortunately even on our last day we had to cope with constant terrific rain. We started the day by heading of to the Tsujiki Fish Market but by the time we arrived it was of course too late to see the dealing that makes this such a exciting place. However the little alleys with small shops and tiny fish restaurants (some with very impressive queues) were very worthwhile exploring. I did buy a good Japanese cooking knife in one of the stalls (for vegetable cutting) for Derek's birthday and the knife was carefully sharpened and polished by one of the shop-keepers.

After that we strolled to the Hama-rikyu gardens which are just around the corner. The contrast between the very green gardens and the very modern city that surrounds it are a sight to behold. Unfortunately by that time the rain was coming down in even greater intensity which made it difficult to fully explore the garden. We discovered the waterbus at one end of the gardens but unfortunately for the place we wanted to go to there is no service on mondays so we strolled on. Eventually we were getting hungry and headed for the ultra modern city again for lunch. In the afternoon we spent more time in department stores hiding from the relentless rain.

Okadaya, Odakyu and several department stores

A miserable rainy day in Tokyo, but in contrast to Melbourne the rain is at least 15°C warmer! First thing on the agenda was back to Okadaya now to purchase some yarn & pattern books. We spent a lot of time at department stores in various places, which is always a pleasant experience in Japan: strolling through the vast food halls with so many things that just look so delicious, the elegant household departments, the roof gardens and so much more. We had lunch in one of the department stores and indeed it was good again. In the late afternoon we headed for the Imperial Palace, but it turned out that the gardens were closed at the weekends, so there wasn't much to see. Unfortunately the rain became slowly more and more intense and we needed a drier place since we had only two umbrellas to share. Let's hope that tomorrow will be a drier day! It is kind of interesting though to see the seas of umbrella on the streets.

However from the Imperial Palace it was only a short walk to Ginza. We stopped off at a French café called "Aux Bacchanales" that was so hyper-authentically Parisian that I kept thinking "What are all these Japanese people

doing here?" and when the waitress brought us jus des pomme the confusion was complete. Saskia fell asleep and was extremely grumpy when we woke her up. (Actually at the moment she has a daily tantrum at the moment around dinner time.) This made finding somewhere to eat in the icy sophisticated wasteland of Ginza well-nigh impossible so we jumped on the Ginza line back to Asakusa, dropped our bags off at the hotel and ate dinner in what turned out to be not a very good local restaurant which had a bit of everything on its menu. Well if we play our cards right tomorrow this will probably be the only sub-standard meal in Japan!

Finally the pedal boats!

We strolled to Ueno Park again, this time stopping to take in the restaurant wares shops on ***. Saskia and Marit were really taken with the plastic food displays and we bought a couple of souvenirs in a shop that sold key-rings and fridge magnets in the shape of all sorts of Japanese food. The best ones are probably the cups of coffee with milk being poured in from a jug that sits firmly on the top of the plastic stream of milk! Anyway, Saskia got a nori roll. Next we had half an hour in a swan boat on the lake.

We had lunch at a tempura restaurant and wondered if it was possible to eat a bad meal in Japan. Here's Marit practising noisy slurping:

Then we took the Metro to Shibuya to try and find Tokyo Hands, a crafts shop that Marjolein was particularly interested in. Since we didn't have an exact address (and it probably wouldn't have helped even if we had!) we asked a policeman and he put us right. Marjolein was a bit disappointed by the wool selection at Tokyo Hands so we headed for Shinjuku to seek out Okadaya. Unfortunately we got lost looking for it since the station is gigantic with a million exits and a sign system that takes some time to get used to. By the time we found the shop it was 20.15 and there were only 15 minuted to go to closing time but that was enough to see that w had to come back the next day! We had dinner in an excellent sushi restaurant in Shinjuku. Marjolein and I had sashimi that was probably even better than the one in Monterey, and it cost 2000 yen, i.e. 110 SEK. This is something else that I find completely different to 1997: everything seems so cheap now! maybe it's because I'm not a postdoc any more, maybe the exchange rate is better. Probably a combination of both. In any case it seems quite incredible that you can eat such good food so cheaply in a city that once had the reputation of being one of the most expensive in the world. Everything is also so elegant that you would like to photograph it all, at the risk of looking a bit foolish...