WOOLMINT.COM

Confusion about woolmint.com website is now over and the blog has moved back some time ago.
I was just browsing some old photos here, when I discovered how many followers this blog had.
You are all welcome to new site!

Pattern sale!

Hi!

I´m back from my China-Laos-Cambodia trip. It was a great fun, although I didn´t find much yarn to buy which I secretly hoped.
There was a lot of knitters in China and one street had at least 8 yarn shop, but sadly they sell only cheap acrylics in bags of 10 balls.

But I have news for you. Madli mittens that I introduced on my last post, are currently 50% discounted on Ravelry - only USD 2 per pattern.

As you may know, I study to be a railway engineer and I wish to start new, 6-week 3D modeling course with SolidEdge modeling software next week. I have to raise funds, because you can´t imagine how expensive that kind of courses may be... So every $$$ I earn will help me to get there, hopefully....

I also included my Romantic Lace Gloves to this sale. They are also 50% discounted and can be downloaded for $2.

This offer is valid until February 24th.

MADLI Fair Isle mittens

Happy New Year, Happy New Year! 

I finally finished & published my latest pattern, MADLI Fair Isle mittens. They are designed especially for small hands, because every time I tried to knit someone else's Stranded mittens pattern, they turned out too big to me. 

I used Fyberspates Scrumptious 4ply yarn and 2.5mm needles.
This was my first time to chart pattern with two colors and I really enjoyed it! It was so much fun to play around Excel and see what looks the best. Now I'm already thinking of new, different pairs to make. 

In less then 3 weeks I'm having a vacation in Cambodia, so I probably won't be posting much here. But I wish you all a wonderful new year :) 

My favorite Local Yarn Shop

I had an opportunity to take some photos in my favorite local yarn store. Imagine how it would be to have such a stash at home? :)
I really like that they do great work and sell some hard to find and more exclusive brands here, like Lotus Yarns (especially cashmere!), Malabrigo and Fyberspates.

And you can always just hop in, read knitting magazines or knit on this super soft sofa. They also organize different workshops and knitting events, where I haven't had time to participate yet...

If you happen to visit Pärnu, then this yarn store is located in Ringi street, close to bus station. They also have a Facebook page, search for Käsitööait OÜ.

Exclusive cashmere gloves

I bought some exclusive Lotus Yarns 100% cashmere last week, just to try if cashmere is really that good as some people are saying.
I knit this pair in two weeks, simply because I got addicted to this yarn! Seriously, if I had a lot of money, I would never buy anything else but cashmere. It is one of the softest things I have ever seen.
Fancy yarn needs fancy approach, so I used some high quality shiny beads and ribbon to decorate them.

Pattern I used is the same I use for my romantic fingerless gloves, only this time it seemed more appropriate to knit the gloves with fingers.

I already ordered some new cashmere from Ebay and can't wait to receive it.

When enough is enough?

How do you know when enough yarn is enough?

I promised about a month ago that I won´t buy new wool (unless there is a great reason for this, like custom rush project or something) before I have used some of my old stash.
Now, weeks later, I have about 2-3kg more yarn in the house, and I struggle with finding a place where to storage it.

But I´m sure that all knitters know the feeling of going to local yarn store for "just" seeing what´s new, and ending up with bags filled with stuff. I think I have NEVER left a yarn store with empty hands, except once in Slovenia when they had only acrylics in stock.

Sadly I don´t have much time to knit these days, because I need to spend my time between university and some work projects. On Monday I´m flying to Brussels for a week, to do some European Media work, and I don´t think I will take a risk to bring some needles with me, because I have never passed a security check in the airports with my needles, no matter if they´re metallic or wooden.

Autumn and gloves... more gloves

Just wanted to share those photos, taken by my friend Laura Toomesoo. If you happen to live in Estonia and need a photographer, I highly recommend her.

Little Teaser

My friend Laura made some new awesome photos of my Romantic Lace Gloves.
I´m currently away from home (I have a school week, learning railway engineering), but once I return to home, I will show you some more.

The pattern is still available on Ravelry pattern store.

Coffee mug sleeves

I´ve been experimenting with knit coffee mug sleeves here.

At first I didn´t understand why some people like them. After knitting one, I start to. It really looks that a hot drink stays warm longer and you don´t burn your hands when you crab for a mug.

I made them from DK weight merino wool in various colors.
What do you think?

Woolmint has moved back

It has been over a year since my last post here. 

It was surprising to see that despite of the fact that I haven´t been writing so long, people still come regularly to this blog address. 

Not entirely because of that, but Woolmint moved back. Permanently or not, I can´t say yet. 

Thing is, I wanted to open an estore on my website, woolmint.com, but „IT greek“ like I am, I messed up a bit. Now my brother, who really knows this stuff, has to clear up my mess. He has done pretty excellent job, but there are still a few things to be worked out.

One thing is my blog. It´s gone. Everything published after august 2011 are gone.

And if you, my dear friends, are still here, please drop me a comment! I´d be happy to see who hangs aroud. 

Woolmint has moved

Woolmint blog moved to new home. You will find it from http://www.woolmint.com/. See you there!

Fall 2011: What fashion has to say

Seems like top designers doesn't value knits this fall 2011 season. As previously, I browsed Style.com to find some interesting knits from different collections, but didn't find much.
ADAM is one of few who has several on their collection.

Moschino Cheap and Chic

Pringle of Scotland

New patterns coming!

I'm happy to announce that my first design for Koigu Magazine arrived to Canada on Friday. Now I have 2 weeks to complete the pattern, which will hopefully be published on next issue.
I was pleased to hear that Taiu, the owner of Koigu, really liked my sweater and I'm anxious to show it to my blog readers, too! But you still have to wait a bit.

Until then, I have a plan to write a pattern for those fingerless gloves. Some people have already asked for it, so it will be done and published on Ravelry in next few weeks.

UPDATE! Pattern is finished & uploaded to Ravelry.

Be positive on Wednesdays!

Monday Moodboard - inspired by lavender

1) Lapomme
2) byMarianneS 
3) LaLaShoes 
4) LAccentNou

Happy Valentines day!

"Truly great friends are hard to find, difficult to leave and impossible to forget"
G. Randolf

Be positive on Wednesdays!

Romantic Lace Gloves pattern

I know, I know, I haven't been a great online friend recently. I know some of you wonder where I disappeared. We had so much going on in our family in the end of 2010, but I'll write about it next time longer.

I wanted to share a great news! Moment that some people are waiting for is finally here!

I finished writing Romantic Lace Gloves pattern and it's available on my Etsy store. And if you're going to knit them, be sure to share your project on Ravelry, too!

Was a great challenge to me, but so many people inspired me to write it down.

On next few days I'm going to edit some of my older patterns and will republish them soon!

UPDATE 30/11

The pattern is now available on Ravelry pattern shop. 

Autumn in colorful

I knitted some more fingerless gloves. The photo is colorful, as the autumn in Estonia :)
Still wonder if I should write a pattern for them? Anyone interested? 

Koigu progress

Katy Perry's new album "Teenage Dream" is playing in my headphones and it is a real teenage dream - I'm too old for enjoying this kind of music on Wednesday 10am.
But I write CD reviews for the newspaper and I must do it.

Anyway, I didn't want to write about Katy Perry.
You see the photo of Koigu yarn I got ... hm, last week? Or even week before.
I keep looking those beautiful skeins of yarn and think what to do with them. Yep, November is soon here and I should come out with an idea, but the brain is just not working.

I love the texture and color of Koigu KPPPM, but it’s challenging – because of multiple colors, it’s not possible to use all patterns, which I would like to, because they just don’t show up on the garment. So my secret plan is to play more with the cuts and less with the pattern.

Last night I got some inspiration and made a small, doll-sized skirt out of it. That’s how I usually plan my designs – I knit a decreased size to see how it looks like. I liked it in general, some changes should be made, but I can’t decide if to go for more classical skirt or a bit extravagant? I’m thinking of something with fluffy bottom edge…

Or maybe tunic? Or sweater? Hats-socks? For me it would be easier to make them all, and not to decide this one and only thing.

But despite of headache I get from thinking, I love doing it! The creative team of Koigu magazine – Taiu, Maie and Kathy – are fantastic and I’m glad that for my first big project I ended up with such a helpful and experienced people.



Meanwhile I made a new cotton shrug.

Koigu's here!

It's here!
Koigu KPPPM yarn is here! And what a fantastic color!
Now must think quickly what to knit from it. Today I plan to experiment with different patterns, just to see what's working with those colors and what's not.