April 2007

First Things First

Monday, April 30, 2007

I thought I'd start the updates with the stuff that's been pending the longest: pics of finished objects. First up: the ribbed raglan turtle-neck I did in 2004 (*gasp*). I also added this simple six-item scale to rate my projects, and I plan to make it a recurring feature:

$$$: Money, that's what makes the world go around. Knitters are always looking for the great yarn bargain, but do they really turn into inexpensive projects?
Pattern: How much fun/variety/difficulty/love-hate-relationship/whatever I had with the provided pattern
Techniques: What techniques were used, and were they enough to keep me interested.
Yarn: A brief review of the yarn: how was it to knit/crochet with, was it right for the project, or would something else work better?
Instant Gratification: So many patterns to do, so little time. How long did it take me to finish the project?
Will I Wear It? (WIWI): I've noticed that much of the patterns I choose to make are stuff that's interesting to do, like intricate color-work or textures or fancy yarns or flashy colors. And that's why a rarely wear them. This has got to change.

To sum it up, a final score on a scale from 0 to 5, based purely on my subjective evaluation and whim. :)

And then some links to wonderful patterns. My philosophy is that if for some reason I can't provide a link to the pattern I used, I'll at least give you some pointers to similar projects to serve as inspiration. Here are the patterns I chose, filed under Ribbed for Her Pleasure (and the common theme here is of course ribbing).

Giraffe from the Fall 2004 Knitty and this white issue from Garnstudio DROPS #67 are strikingly similar to my ribbed poloneck. Giraffe, of course, has that huuuge turtleneck but even the yarn looks similar. The white sweater, on the other hand, has raglan sleeves but no turtle-neck. Very simple and cute.

These two sweaters, both from Garnstudio, have interesting diagonal ribbing at the sides. At first glance they look identical but they're not. The red one has narrow ribbing and is worked back and forth. The white one is made with K4, P2 ribbing and worked in the round. Even the sleeves are knitted on DPN's, and the body has a lovely, fitted shaping.

Finally, these two patterns show that simple doesn't have to mean dull. Tatania from Berroco is a stunning design with both horizonal and vertical ribbing. I'm not so sure about the mustard yellow, though... The gray sweater from Garnstudio might look boring at first but is has a wide K6, P5 rib, a round yoke that fascinates me, and slightly flared sleeves.

More pics to come soon!

Write a comment

Downtime Tonight

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

My hosting service provider will be doing some upgrades to their network equipment and this might cause the site to be unavailable for short periods:

Finland, Eastern Europe (EEST): on the night of Wednesday, April 18 from 00:30 am to 6 am
London, UK (BST): from Tue, April 17, 10:30 pm to Wed, April 18, 4 am
East Coast, US (EDT): Tue, April 17 from 5:30 pm to 11 pm
Pacific Coast, US (PDT): Tue, April 17 from 2:30 pm to 8 pm

Check back later if you're having trouble accessing the site!

Write a comment

Going Monolingual

Saturday, April 14, 2007

Earlier this year, I came to the realization that the reason why haven't had the will to update the site much for a while now -- a really long while -- is that I'd have to do it in two languages, Finnish and English. I know many Finnish knitting bloggers do that so remarkably well, but it's just too much work for me. As much as it pains me, I've decided to do away with the Finnish pages and continue to maintain the site solely in English.

When I first started my knitting website in -- gosh, 1999? 2000? I can't even remember -- there was little to none Finnish knitting content on the web. Since then, the blogging thing happened, and now there are hundreds of Finnish knitting blogs -- let alone other knitting or craft content -- out there.

Second, the vast majority of my visitors are from outside of Finland anyway, so the Finnish language pages are catering to a minority -- a hefty minority but a minority nonetheless. And thanks to a wonderful education system, Finnish people are generally quite adept in English so it's not like I'm depriving Finnish visitors of any content, either.

Lastly, and this is a purely self-serving reason, I mostly knit in English these days. I read and write in English at work. I read, listen to, and watch TV in English for fun. The less work and more fun it is for me, the more often I'll update my site, and I think that's what matters.

I'll gradually start removing the Finnish pages, except the free patterns. I may sometimes post updates only in Finnish, and I'll also continue to link to Finnish knitting or crochet content. Those links will be marked with a small flag:

I've already taken lots of pictures of past and new projects. To tide you over, here's a sneak peek of what's been keeping me busy. On the right-hand side panel you'll also find some knitting or crafting blogs I've come to like. I'll probably add some more later once I zero in on my favorite ones.