haberkula

November was a rather quiet time. At first I thought I would have a very busy and stressful month because of exams and students as well as two papers to be finished and that there would be no time spent silently at home. In fact I stayed at home for more than two weeks, finished one paper and almost did another one, managed to complete some home works and start a new knitting project. It was not planned, but just happened because of nasty viruses and illnesses of almost everyone in the family. So after all this time spent at home with no prospects of leaving, I was a bit tired. Staying in one place and doing one thing is usually more difficult for me than being involved in many different activities. But not this time. Finally I had a chance to be a more prolific knitter. I wanted to destash a bit one of my yarn baskets, which is always full, and prepare a package of small gifts before winter. Thanks to that a red hat was done and a shawl for my mother-in-law , two other sweate

In fact this is the place where I could write about anything I like or dislike. And this October I really wanted to write about my current observations concerning wool, but did not have enough strong will. Another reason was that I would rather do it for myself than for the readers or those leaving comments (which makes me think not well about my knitting and about my blog). I’m not so outgoing and talkative, rather more reserved. I've recently knitted quite a number of hats (or more generally headdresses). Some of them (as two berets for my father-in-law) are happilly worn by their owners and I do not have their photos. I made another beret for my son, since he wanted to be as goodlooking as his granddad. I must confess that after so many years of knitting I had a problem with a simple and straight flat crowned hat. I got the proper pattern after four sample hats, which more resembled a potato bag than anything you can possibly wear on top of your head. After that I finished

It took me a bit longer than I'd expected to write this post. In fact I wanted to tech edit the patterns before testing. It was my first attempt at finding someone and give him or her (in fact there were only great female knitters) a design which was tech edited before. So I had to try two things for the first time. And I must say I really liked it. I really appreciate the possibility of sharing my knitting methods with others and of having an insight into someone’s plans and dayly knitting routines. One thing I do not like in this kind of cooperation is the way of testing – when you do not have your own Ravelry group – as myself – you should take into account all the terms of free testers' groups. In fact, as a longterm knitter, I do not think it is possible to find a testers' group, buy the stash and finish a larger project in less than four weeks. Sometimes you have to hurry up to do it all in a very short time, otherwise your thread may be closed. Regarding the testi

It is not so easy to pass from slow holiday life, although in our case it is always a bit absorbing, to normal everyday rules. And for me a very important converter from slowness to high speed action is always knitting. Usually, we spend the last few weeks of holidays in the Gorce mountains in southern Poland, in a village called Ochotnica. This time we lived in a small wooden hut at the far end of a valley, above a pasture with a flock of sheep. close to the border of the national park. And we’ve spent wonderful three weeks there. In case you are wondering, the food was as simple as you might imagine. And all of it we had to carry in our backpacks. Our meals in Gorce are usually simple, preferably prepared using local products, like eggs from happy hens, which wonder freely outside their henhouses, pecking here and there. The sheep from the pasture I’ve mentioned visited us from time to time to graze on our fresh, green grass. And far, far down in the village we managed

Here I am writing my new post. The very end of June and the first days of July were the travelling time for me and my family, as I wrote in my previous post . We’ve spent a wonderful time in Fribourg, chatting with old friends and walking somewhere in the forests. Fribourg is our destination every couple of years, but we are more than common visitors. After some time spent there we have special and favourite places e.g. the Natural History Museum. We’ve spent some time checking on the everything that has changed since our last visit. There is always something new to explore in The Natural History Museum. This time there was an exhibition about wolves. Being part of the local university, the museum focuses on the Swiss nature and landscape, so I had a chance to learn more about wolves living in this region (you can do this till 20th August: here ). For the first time I’ve also read that wild boars are not so common in Switzerland as where I live. For me every visit there is a major

June was rather difficult as it usually is in a family, where everyone needs to finish their duties by the end of the month. For myself, as I had to finish the academic year, it was an awful duty to give every student a mark. Although I had very little time to knit, I nevertheless kept knitting and purling in the meantime. I finished a couple of knitting pieces, but unfortunately there was no time left to take pictures. To say nothing about publishing. Immediately after all the schools, courses and lessons were finished, we jumped into our first holiday journey. And after a long way we reached Fribourg in Switzerland. After two years spent there, I must admit but I love the nature and the environment in this country. This is the place where every single plant is seen in all blooming beauty. And I could finally find a moment to dress my boys in their green cardigans. After they sat down their dad was able to take a few pictures. When they started to play and wonder around

I finished the second yoke sweater for the Fruity You and Me KAL about two weeks ago. I’ve also taken some photos but I couldn’t manage to write a post about this cardigan. This time I used my own pattern – the same as in the Flower red yoke for J from my previous post – but I’ve knitted it from bottom up and this is definitely the best way for me. I must confess that decreasing stitches gives me more hope of finishing the project than increasin. The most difficult portion of the yoke is the flower pattern itself and once this part is finished you just have to dive in the the ocean of plain stockinette. Another thing I have changed is the method: I steeked all the front piece instead of cutting only the yoke pattern piece. I was really happy to have finished both sweaters. I enjoyed knitting yoke from up to bottom for the first time, but – as I’ve written – this way is not mine, so after designing the flower pattern I’ve decided to make another yoke cardigan for my

I must confess I am definitively not a podcast lover. In my present state of mind – a bit nervous and melancholic – watching what others are knitting right now, are going to knit or what they are dreaming to knit in the future is not overly fascinating. Perhaps the podcasts I came across were not too interesting, but on the other hand I didn’t have free time to spend it otherwise than knitting. However, some time ago I was so exhausted that I sat down and watched a couple of different podcast episodes. It made me feel better and I found that „The Fruitty Knitting” podcast is definitely worth watching more or less regularly. When I watch a new episode, my hubby looks over my shoulder and says in disbelief something like „this man is knitting again”. In every other way he is of great help, being something of my PR specialist, although he consistently refuses to learn to knit. I accept that, as he is not the first one of that kind in my family. My grandpa Antoni was not too talented as

While I was in the kitchen this morning, I heard that back in old Times it was well seen among decent people to found enterprises or public institutions, e.g. nurseries, schools etc. The man in the podcast – relating his long and interesting life – as he could not build anything else, decided to donate his large and carefully collected library to students.  At the moment I am not planning to kick the bucket. But I have found that if I am going to donate something to others it is not a library. Ideed, we have loads of books at home, as we need them for work and school, and their number is still growing. However, I generalny do not collect scientific publications and if I do, I try to pass them on to other people. At my home, in my family and in my life the amount of yarn and textile is still growing.     ( this Jamieson's stash is waiting for a new project) These include knitted garments and accessories, carefully designed, sketched and calculated fo