new years resolution

Today is New Year's Eve and I am already thinking about my resolutions for the New Year.
One is to be more kind and thoughtful to others and two is to lose that 5 pounds (again) that I gained over the Christmas Holiday. Three is to stop just looking at and admiring my new Hanne mermaid kit, jump in and get the sweater done. My question is... Do I make the Medium? I am a size 8 sometimes a 10 . I made the Medium/Large ballerina and it is too generous. The gauge was correct, I am just poor at choosing the correct size, I guess . I did notice ,about two thirds of the way through my ballerina, that it was going to be too big but could not make myself start over.
What size have other mermaid knitters been choosing and are they happy with their size choice?


Happy New Year

Jenny

Has anyone tried Gloria?

I assume this design is fairly new. It looks really nice. Has anyone tried it yet? How does it compare in terms of instruction clarity with, say, Mermaid? How does it fit on non-goddess-shaped people?

Happy holidays to everyone - I hope you all got the kits you were hoping for :-)

Size small Mermaid sleeves are done!

I just finished the first sleeve of my size Small Mermaid and sent the updated spreadsheet to Amy. The spreadsheet follows the stitch counts in the pattern but personally, after reading so many posts of those whose sleeves "grew" after blocking, I shortened mine by 10 stitches. I am petite and didn't want to take a chance that they would overpower me after all this work!

Here is the result:



Please let me know if you find any problems with the spreadsheet. Hopefully I worked most of them out.

Have fun!

Mermaid Large Spreadsheet

Hi,

Just wondering whether you've started distributing the size large spreadsheet yet.

Promenade colourway #7

I am about 10 days into knitting Promenade. I haven't had a huge amount of time to knit but thought I'd show you my progress so far. The colours don't show up particularly well - taken with a flash under electric light so what do I expect?! This version is in colourway #7 - red, tomato, orange, fuchsia and cyclamen. It's very beautiful. I've finished the first repeat of the colour pattern on the back and am about three ridges into the second repeat of the pattern. I wasn't sure whether I'd love the colour combination - some of the colours are a bit on the warm side for my winter colouring - but I do. So far, it's easy knitting which is made exciting by seeing how the blocks and stripes of colour come together to make a stunning whole. I'm once again bowled over by the design talents of Hanne Falkenberg. Having completed mermaid earlier in the year, this is so far much more straightforward to follow (let's hope I don't speak too soon...) Any you know what? Having taken some time out to use up some of my stash, it's wonderful to be able to indulge myself with another HF project.

Studio Long

I'm knitting and am getting close to where the neck opening begins. I finally sat down and read through the instructions (I've just been working locally, reading as I go along).

As I understand it, the first piece I knit is the back which will include a part of the sleeve and about half of the back of the neck opening, and the left side of the neck opening. Then I'll stop and knit the same thing for the front and the rest of the back of the neck, the right side of the neck, and the front of the neck opening.

And then I will knit the 2 pieces together by knitting one stitch from each piece together along the line numbered 7. Is that right?

Thanks for either affirming or stopping me from making a huge mistake.

tokyo

Hello,

Has anyone completed Hanne's Tokyo jacket? I am interested in seeing a photo of someone actually wearing the jacket. The only photos I can seem to find show the jacket hanging on a pole. It looks lovely. I am very tempted to give it a try but it has been some time since I was as thin as a pole. Would anyone who has made this jacket be willing to post/ share a photo of someone wearing it?

Happy Thanksgiving to all and Happy knitting .


Jenny D

Wanted: DaCapo pattern

Hi all,

I'm new to the list, and new to Hanne's patterns.

I'd like to purchase a copy of the DaCapo pattern before I make a commitment to the kit.

Does anyone have an English-language copy they're willing to sell? I'm in the Netherlands, but have a PayPal account. Or if there are any fellow Dutch knitters out there, we can make the appropriate arrangements.

Please respond directly to laurieannd@gmail.com

Thanks,


Laurie

DaCapo Problem

I've not done much knitting on my DaCapo lately. The thing is; the gauge is wrong. It should be 25sts and 50rows = 10x10cm, but in my knitting it is more like 9x9.5cm. So I'm a bit worried that the whole thing will be too small. I've almost finished the back, but now I'm thinking of starting all over again. Not something I'm looking forward to, but better to do it now than to be sorry later....

Studio Long - Finished

I just finished Studio Long yesterday, and I'm more than pleased with the result. It's a huge amount of work, but it's definately worth it. The colours are Emerald, Green Mix, and Fuchsia, and the size is L.

Amsterdam and Oslo yarn shops

Hi Everyone!
I'm lucky enough to be taking a cruise to Amsterdam and Oslo in early December and wondered if any of you know of any bargain knit shops where I can purchase some Hanne kits? Thank you!
Linda

Charlotte - Hat done

I just finished the Charlotte Hat by Hanne Falkenberg. It's a very nice little project, quickly done and easy to knit. I just love it, and it comes just on time since it's getting cold over here. :) For getting the unique shape of this hat, three strands of the Falkenberg yarn is used.

Ravelry Falkenberg Kal Group

For those who have (or will be joining) Ravelry, you may be interested to know that there is a Hanne Falkenberg Fans group there.

I joined that Group last week as I awaited admission from this KAL and got some helpful advice.

Ravelry Falkenberg Kal Group

For those who have (or will be joining) Ravelry, you may be interested to know that there is a Hanne Falkenberg Fans group there.

I joined that Group last week as I awaited admission from this KAL and got some helpful advice.

Finished the Mermaid body pattern - size small

A short post to let anyone who is waiting that I have mailed the complete body pattern - size small Mermaid to Amy. I have knitted past row 600 so I may still find errors. I want to take a break before I do the sleeves.. but I'm suspecting they will be easier than the body.

Good luck and let me know if you find any problems. I paid more attention to stitch counts than ridge counts - so the ridge counts may not be 100% accurate.

Mermaid small measurements

I'm wondering if anyone could post the measurements for their completed small Mermaid - particularly someone who got gauge!?! I think I may need to try to modify the pattern to bring the waist a bit higher, as I am not of Danish viking-like proportions (only 5'3").

Any advice? Anyone done this? got the measurements from shoulder to mid -waist shaping? I'd be grateful!

Studio Long question

I'm just starting my Studio Long (finally). Is there any reason that the M1 increases on triangle Z need to be worked one stitch in from the edge instead of two? Has anyone used an increase other than the M1 specified in the pattern?

Thanks,

Sandra D

Spreadsheets getting out

Just a quick update --

Mermaid: I have responded to all requests so far. If you haven't heard from me, please resend your request.

Mermaid sizes: I'm still only sending out Mediums. Small and Large are coming, but I want to catch up on Ballerina requests first.

LaStrada: I have now responded to all requests so far. If you haven't heard from me, please resend your request.

Ballerina: I have about 75 requests dating back to June that I'm getting started on. Currently I will be sending out the sheet in its last format - incomplete and possibly with some errors. If you have found some errors in it or completed it past what I had sent, please let me know and I'll start incorporating updates after I get the new requests satisfied.

All other Hanne patterns: I don't have spreadsheets for these. I don't know anyone who does. If you have made one and would like to share it, please let me know. If you want to handle distribution, I can direct people to you if they ask me. If you would like me to distribute it for you, we can set that up. E-mail me.

Mermaid size Large

Has anyone knit the mermaid in large and used Amy's spreadsheet as a guide (since it is size medium). Did that make it easier or add to the confusion?

To those who knit size small Mermaid

OK - I will soon be at the point where I place a MT on the shoulder to mark the beginning of the neck shaping.

The pattern says: Place the MT in ridge 8, (7), 8 - for sizes Small, Med, Lrge.

Does the "8" for size small work out? I'm kinda surprised that it isn't 6, (7), 8.

I have searched high and low for errata on this pattern but cannot find any.

Amy - do you have any insight?

Thanks,
Ricki

Treading Water

Hi Everyone!

Okay, so I mis-judged my readiness to jump back into the knitting world last time I posted, but I really am catching up now.

I dug through 4000+ messages (darned Knitlist) and sorted out over 200 spreadsheet requests. As of right now, I am caught up with Mermaid. If you haven't heard from me about a Mermaid request, please resend your request.

As Ricki posted, I will be distributing the modified Small Mermaid. I also have a Large Mermaid that someone else adapted and that I need to process. At this point, I am not ready to distribute either of these sizes. If you ask me for Mermaid, you will get the Medium and I will put you on my update mailing list where I will announce the availability of the other sizes once I am ready.

I still have about 100 Ballerina message to respond to and a smaller number of LaStrada ones. Not to mention random requests for spreadsheets that don't exist (or if they do, I don't have them). :) I'll probably hit the LaStrada requests next because there are fewer of them, so I won't get to Ballerina until next week (because I will be away from my computer this weekend).

As for Ballerina...I know there are some errors in the spreadsheet, I'm going to be working through the e-mails about that. I'm also concerned that my spreadsheet is being redistributed without my permission, albeit in a modified, corrected/completed state. So far, I've been very careful to verify that everyone I send the spreadsheets to owns the patterns they are derived from. All along, I have been aware that I'm treading a very fine line in copyright which is why I have not just posted the spreadsheet to my webpage and been done with it, it certainly would have been much easier for me and made all of you a lot happier. While the spreadsheet is a different interpretation of the pattern, it is still Ms. Falkenberg's design and distributing the spreadsheet without care is a violation of the spirit of copyright if not outrightly illegal.

I'm not sure whether Ms. Falkenberg is aware of the spreadsheets. I've sent them to over 400 people so far, most of whom have been very pleased with them. If she should inquire, I want to be able to show that I have guarded the distribution carefully and I have kept records of every copy I have sent out. But if she asks me to stop distributing them, I have to in order to avoid legal troubles for myself and also potentially for Becky as a facilitator of distribution. I know that can be frustrating for all of you when my life prevents me from responding quickly, but I think you'd rather know you can get them eventually than be barred forever. So thank you for being patient.

I have considered other methods for distribution, or to solicit some helpers, but I need to work out some technical issues there first. And I'm going to wait until I have caught up on the requests before I put any effort there.

Volunteer needed

I am looking for a volunteer who is familiar with Blogger to help me manage the knitalong. Duties would be assisting with the template (fixing the sidebar so it doesn't fall at the bottom of the page) and assisting with getting us back to the list of users where we included links to people's blogs.

Let me know if you're interested in helping out.

Thanks!
Becky

Version 1 of Amy's Spreadsheet - size small

FYI - I emailed the first version of Amy's Mermaid spreadsheet for size small to her this AM. She has agreed to handle the distribution. Not sure if she will just add it to the size medium spreadsheet or keep it separate. The body pattern is finished up to row 340 and I have knit up to row 255. If anyone uses it - please let me know if you find any mistakes. I think it is correct but you never know. Here is my body so far. I'm very happy with it! Hope it fits as well as it looks.



I'll send her more of the spreadsheet as I get more done.. probably the rest of the body in the next version.

Ricki
http://knittingintherockies.blogspot.com/

she's blocking

did I mention how happy I am with the amount of stretching a rib stitch offers? I should probably have made size L, but insisted on using Amy's spread sheet, which was only available in M. meanwhile I noticed Elaine has posted a picture of us when she visited Amsterdam a while ago. Yes, that is Mermaid in my hands.

Swatching the ballerina

swatching is a good thing, that's for sure! I found out the recommended needles for ballerina were too big (TOO BIG?!)for my personal tension. So now I'm swatching with a size 1 needle to see what happens. I hope this will be right. This is the first time I've ever been really concerned about gauge. But I want this sweater to fit!

Do you other "ballerina makers" think the needle size is off, or is it just my knitting tension?

I lied by the way. I'm not done with Christmas presents yet, but I can't stand it. I really want to start Ballerina, NOW. So if I at least determine what needles to use, I feel like I'm starting the project.... :.p

Mermaid Completed

I finished putting Mermaid (kit 5) together last night. It's been washed, blocked and is now drying. It fit so well that even the sleeves were perfect preblocked. I hope the jacket doesn't "grow" now that I have "soaked" & blocked it.

The jacket was started on July 19th and finished September 25th. Not too bad...only took a few weeks break to work on some special socks and I did make my self imposed deadline of October 1st!

I know another jacket will be started soon....just have to pick out the colors which has proven more difficult than I thought it would be.

Ballerina yarn weights

Hi everyone. Am swatching for the first Ballerina I've ever done. This is my first HF pattern too. I saw that you are all weighing your yarns before starting--great idea! Mine came out like this:

Colorway #12

400 Gm main color A("dusty green")
100 Gm color B ("sage green")
75 Gm color C ("dusty rose")
25 Gm color D ("turquoise")

Hope that will help anyone who needs it. Hope it helps ME, when I go to make the next one.... :oD

Ballerina

Is there anyone out there who has made the Ballerina ? I am almost to the end of Amy's wonderful instructions and am scared that I won't be able to finish on my own. Can anybody help? I hope someone has the final instructions where Amy leaves off and could share. Everyone has been so helpful on this post. I couldn't have done it without Amy and everyone else.

Finished Mermaid....

I´ve finished my third Mermaid about 14 days ago - her she is:

I started on august 6th and finished september 10th. I used "shetlandsuld" (uld=wool) and size 3 needles.

I've started

Well - I'm past the edge section of my size small Mermaid 3 and pushing on thru the stripes. I THINK I adapted Amy's spreadsheet for size small correctly so far but we shall see. I'm spending hours modifying her pattern. The yarn is lovely - the turquoise has green specks. If I can do this - I know I will be happy with the result.

So here is it:



Ricki
http://knittingintherockies.blogspot.com/

Mermaid Skein Weight

Update before casting on:

I weighed my skeins for the Mermaid 7. My scale isn't super high-tech, but here is the info. Purple has 6 of one weight and 1 skein of another... strange.


Lilac- 2 skeins: 55 grams each

Aubergine- 2 skeins: 50 grams each

Purple- 6 skeins: 45 grams each

Purple- 1 skein: 25 grams

Hopefully this is helpful for future Mermaids :)

mermaid help

Help,
I finished my Mermaid sweater and it fit great until I washed it. Even though I was careful not to stretch the sleeves, they are now several inches too long. Any suggestions???
jane

Pattern Trade

I have Mermaid, Ballerina, Diva, and Pagoda and would love to trade for a pattern I don't have, particularly Studio Long, Profil, Pygmalian, or maybe Skyline.

If you have one you're interested in trading, please e-mail me and let's see if we can work something out - elweyu@hotmail.com

Thanks,
purple

Ballerina spreadsheet again

Upon closer inspection, I think I've figured out why my 3 edge stitches aren't working after Row 943 (Back section). The k1, s2-p wyib that you do at the beginning of the row is missing. Am I correct and can someone who has made this successfully please tell me on which Row I need to begin doing this? Would it be on Row 943 with color B? I am quite certain that everyone figured this out-no doubt you are all more experienced than I, but just in case some of you are novices like me, we need to spell it out so no confusion occurs.

Ballerina Spreadsheet Error????

I have adored Amy's spreadsheet for Ballerina. Without it, I could never have gotten as far as I have. I believe there may be a couple of errors, but I'm not experienced enough to know. Can someone who has made this take a look please?? I have been banging my head against the wall. Perhaps the error is with me, not the spreadsheet. On Row 949 I believe it should say K to last 2 stitches before yo, not K to last 2 sts, turn. Otherwise the Row breakdown would not be correct as written and I believe it is indeed correct. Am I right? I'm just not sure if this is a typo or not, but it's repeated many times. Please help so that others won't be as confused and frustrated as I am. Thank you in advance.

New Hanne knitter!

Hi! I have just rejoined this KAL.. I joined in the past but other projects got in the way. Looking forward to learning a lot from all of you who have made wonderful sweaters (I have been watching).

I am a size small and I'm trying to change Amy's spreadsheet to the smallest size.

My question is - after line 44 on Amy's body (size M) - "Cast off 23, knit to last 3, sl 2 wyif, k1" - which I need to do earlier..

From then on - Row 1 of the 4 row pattern for stripes - (Amy's row 47) the spreadsheet says "Knit across".

I don't see that in Hanne's pattern. Does anyone know why this is different?

Thanks in advance and come to my blog!
Ricki
http://knittingintherockies.blogspot.com/

New Mermaid!

Hi, I'm new to this group. This is my new Hanne kit for Mermaid 7. I have 7 skeins of purple, 2 each of aubergine and lilac. I'll weigh them also, but I need to find my scale.

I'd like to start knitting the mermaid, but I have a large stash problem, so I'm going to rush to finish my current project called A Walk in the Woods as incentive to start the mermaid. Purple is my favorite color, so I'm pleased to have such a beautiful kit! When I start, I believe I will do a provisional cast on as others have suggested. I'll keep you posted here and on my blog.

Help with Ballerina

I have just started row 947 on Amy's Ballerina spreadsheet-the back, and something is amiss. The edge is not correct. I am using black and camel, the black is color A. Normally, I have a great edge in the black the enitre way around, but I fear the directions are incorrect because I don't have my edge any more. Am I not supposed to sl2-pWYIF, k1? Can someone help me before I go any further? I wonder if there is a pattern error. I need help in the worst way, PLEASE>

It is here!

My Pingpong 2. Now I have to start............

Promenade

Thank you for letting me join your KAL. I just received my Promenade kit in colorway #7. The colors are salsa hot- red, orange, fuschia and purple. I'm trying to finish some UFOs before I dare cast on. I made several ruffle scarves last year and had 1200 stitches on the needles for the last few rows. The number of stitches for Promenade do not seem that daunting to me!!!

PROFIL

Has anyone knit PROFIL? If so, is it knit on the diagonal and seamed together down the front or is it knit some other way? The reason I ask is that before I invest in it, I want to feel fairly confident that I will like it when it is done. I have already knit a sweater by another designer that was knit on the diagonal and seamed and I really didn't like the finished product at all.

New to the Falkenberg KAL

Hi, my nick is Jinx, I'm 40 years old and live in Hamburg/Germany. Thank you very much for accepting me to this KAL.

I discovered the Falkenberg designs about half a year ago, and even purchased some (which are still in the pipeline...) The first one I started and I'm still working on is "Studio Long". The colours I chose are emerald/green mix/cylamen version of this pattern. It's a bit weird to knit, very unusual, but it's also fun. I'll very soon finish the first big part of the sweater (the back), and I think up to now I managed quite well. But it's also a completely new experience for me, knitting a sweater in this way.

Further updates can be found frequently in my blog http://knittinganarchist.de

Studio support

Greetings,
While awaiting a spreadsheet for Studio, I am attempting to go it alone on my first Falkenberg. I sure could use some assistance. On Page 2, Joining Triangle and Side Panel, directions say to knit until the last st of triangle, and then slip the next two sts. My question: Do I knit across ALL sts of the triangle, and be slipping the first two sts of the side panel? OR Do I knit across until 1 st before the last st of the triangle, and then sl that st as well as the first st of the triangle? I am grateful for any assistance you may have to offer. Thank you kindly.

Hi, I'm new

I'm new to your KAL. I assumed that the Hanne Falkenberg pattern kit I ordered from Cucumberpatch (in England) would take a while to get here (Great Lakes area). Boy, was I wrong! Yay!! Here's a pic of my kit:It's the ballerina swing jacket, and it's so beautiful! Can't wait to get started on it.

Here's what I wrote about it on my blog! It's this colorway, #12:


I'm so glad to be part of this KAL. I am hoping to glean some tips from all you veteran Hanne-Along'ers, as I've heard this can be a tricky pattern to work from her printed pattern. But I'll work my way through it, I love Hanne's style, just classy and beautiful.

My progress on ballerina may be slow to begin with--I cannot actually start it until my Christmas knitting is done. I'm half-way there.....ballerina is the carrot dangling in front of me (not that I'm like a mule or anything!)

Hello from The Netherlands

Hi, I'm new here. I haven't a clue how this blog works but I hope to find out soon. I am Anouk, 37 and I live together with my husband and my 3 cats in The Netherlands. I just ordered a Pingpong-2 and I'm waiting until it has arrived from Denmark to the shop and then to my doorstep. I hope I can find out about the pattern and that's exactly why I became a member here. For ALL my questions *LOL*

I do some knitting already from I was a child. Sometimes I didn't do any knitting for years but about 2 years ago I even started to knit socks. That worked out very well and I still love to knit beside my other hobbies like rubber stamping. Now I have enough confidence to try a HF kit :-)

Group Announcements

1) Spreadsheets - If you want one, you need to follow the instructions on this page. Unless Amy changes her system, this is the only way you can get a spreadsheet. Emailing me will not help. Do not request a spreadsheet from other people as there are major copyright violations which could come into play. It may take awhile, but it will be worth it once you get it. Please respect these rules or you may be banned from the knitalong.

2) Invites - I believe I am now caught up on invites. If you have requested an invite to the knitalong but have not received one, please email me at becky at beckyanddaniel dot com and rerequest.

Heads Up!

When I left my LYS last night after Knit Night, the owner indicated she had 4 Hanne kits that she'd like to move and is willing to sell them at half price. I'm sure of the styles and pretty sure of the color numbers:

Tweedy - 9
Tivoli - 9
LaStrada - 11
Dacapo - 5

If you're interested, please e-mail me privately at skdavid01@yahoo.com and I'll give you the owner's name and phone number.

Please pardon if this is a duplicate post - I had some computer glitch when I attempted to post before, so it's possible this will turn up twice.

Hanne Refill Kits

Have ya'll heard the news that Hanne has started selling yarn only (refill kits) for those have the pattern and want to do a second jacket? Check out her link http://www.knit.dk/refill.htm
According to my LYS the USA distributor is trying to work out the details for selling the refill kits in the States.

At least you know for certain the yarn will work for the patterns- so far I'm having difficulty finding anything with the same 'crunchy' feeling- everything seems to soft I'm afraid the flare will disappear.

Ballerina Yardage

Hi all -- I just received my kit a few days ago, and took a minute to weigh the yarn and do some basic figuring, as I had seen some requests for this info.

My kit is the 2-color S/M or M/L version. All totalled, I have 204 grams (7-1/4 ounces) of the contrast color, and 381 grams (13-1/2 ounces) of the main color.

Using the 2-ply Shetland wool available at Schoolhouse press for weight/yardage comparison, that means I have about 1,000 yards of contrast color and 2,000 yards of main color. Sounds about right.

This is my best guess-timate; hope it is helpful for those of you trying to substitute yarn. I do think the yarn that comes with the kit is fairly scratchy, but I am trying to withhold judgement until I can see the finished product.

Poking my head up (or, where the hell is my spreadsheet?!)

Hi all --

I've spent several weeks away for work with limited internet access, my divorce was finalized, and we sold our house last week. So I've been a little out of it. Not to mention, I'm sort of between permanent houses right now, staying with friends, with no internet access. Horrors!

Checking into my knitting e-mail, I see I have 2200+ messages to sort through, with no small number of spreadsheet requests. So, I'm sorting through all of that today. If you are waiting on me about a spreadsheet for any reason, you should hear from me soon.

Mermaid Body Done

I cannot believe it, but the body of my mermaid is complete! I'm beyond pleased with how it has turned out. The hairclips held it together well enough to try it on for fit and so far it looks good. Now all that is left is putting the shoulder seams and collar together. I then plan on doing an i-cord bindoff all the way around so I don't have the grafting behind the neck on the collar. At least it worked on a swatch and I have a circular needle long enough so what the heck I may as well give it a shot!

I hope to start the sleeves by the end of the week after I put the body together- just need to write out the darn pattern so I can understand it. I can't wait to compare Amy!'s sheet to mine and see how close- or far off I am to the pattern's actual directions. So far it fits so I'm pleased- the sleeves worry me a bit as to the length of arm so that need some tweaking.

Pagode in Frog Pond

I switched the ivory with wheat, so there is a nice contrast with blue and ivory, but the yellow and wheat pretty much blend with each other.

Last night an hour was put in to rip out almost a quarter of a sweater knitted on size 3 needles, and hundreds of stitches were picked up.

I'm going to get my money's worth out of this kit.

TweedieI

I´ve been asked to post a picture of my Tweedie - so here it is. I knitted it during my summer holiday this year. It took me 3½ week to finish. It was fun knitting it, but it was difficult to keep the different colors apart, as I was knitting. Sometimes it just messed up. First you knit one row in color a, then you push the work to the back and knit one more row from the same side with a new color. And again once more. Then you turn your work and knit one row with all three colors.

This Tweedie is not made in the original yarn.

As you can see at the picture, I have a small yarn store at home.

Hello from Denmark

Hello everybody.

I am new to this blog, and like to introduce myself. I am a 35 year old and from Denmark. I have been knitting for a long time on and of. 2½ years ago, I got Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome and started knitting for real. I knitted 8-10 hours a day. I wrote a book about how my stress was eased by knitting and it was published last year.

I have knitted 2 Mermaids, a Diva, a Linus, a Tweedie and have just started my third Mermaid.

Mermaid Jacket

I am so glad I found this site and what fun to share in all the excitement. So many of you have done such a beautiful job and are so willing to share your experiences and expertise. I am anxiously waiting and hoping to receive a spreadsheet from Amy, so I can get started on my jacket.If anyone can send me words of encouragement or any secrets to making this beautiful jacket, all comments are welcome. Can't wait to get started. Thanks.

Linda@SquabbleHollow

Mermaid body finished

yippee, the body is done! thanks to this other KAL. knitting I-cord tonight and casting on sleeves tomorrow. plan is to do two sleeves simultaneously - this encourages them to be identical - and to omit the contrasting stripe that goes lengthwise. has anyone else done that?

Mermaid Shoulder Issues

I've started my mermaid and have reached the cast off section for the shoulder. Does anyone know at which ridge number I should start the dec for the shoulder? I feel like I should count from the cast off ridge 9, but now I'm not sure. Each time I read Hanne's directions I become more confused so now I've hit the wall & stopped knitting.

Any help or clarification would be great. I should probably just be patient and wait for Amy's spreadsheet to arrive, but I just couldn't hold off any longer due to itchy fingers. Love the yarn and the knitting- not so much the the directions as written. Thanks!

Promenade problem

This will be my first post on any KAL discussion. I'm working on the Promenade shawl in the mustard color combo. The kit consists of only 5 colors. However, the instrucstions indicate you know several ridges in "f" which would be a sixth color. What to do? Also, if I'm following the directions correctly my colors don't reflect thepostcard picture that came with the kit. Has anyone else knit this with only five colors? I'm thinking of looking at the photo and trying to copy the colors for those rows. BTW, when it comes to the chart there are only five colors shown so that part is right. It's just the first 20-26 rows before following the chart begins. Thanks for any help. Sally

Studio or Studio Long

Has anyone knitted Studio or Studio Long? I was interested in this pattern before I purchased Ballerina and was told that Ballerina was easier to knit. I can't believe either Studio would be more difficult. Please let me know.

Ballerina Small or Medium

I bought yarn to make another Ballerina. I know, that will be #4, but I love this pattern so much! More Brown Sheep NatureSpun Sport, which I love. We were at the Brown Sheep Outlet on our vacation, and I just couldn't resist! You wouldn't believe the amount of yarn I decided to get! And then again, you just might!

Right now I'm trying to decide whether to knit a medium or a small. I'm a medium right now, but working on changing shape to a small. I'd love to have this fit when I reach my goal weight, I'd hate to put all the work into it and have it be too big at the end. But there is that niggling feeling in the back of my mind that says it is more practical to knit to where I am as opposed to where I'd like to be.

Anyone else in this situation? What would you do?

I also bought some new hand-painted Nature Spun Sport, there is a part of me that thinks it might be glorious with 2 other (solid) yarns in a Mermaid. Anyone else tried this?

another KAL

hi all! because my Mermaid is taking forever to finish, I've also joined in with the Tour de France KAL. who knows that'll give me a good kick in the behind. would love to finish my project before the cyclists do on July 29th. anyone want to come along for a ride? you'll find me among those wearing green jerseys. deadline for signing up is 3pm London time on 7th July 2007, this is when the official start for the Tour de France Prologue is.

join in, it looks like a fun Knitalong and a great way to speed up your knitting! besides random prizes there are prizes for those who score enough points by posting on the KAL blog.

DaCapo

My DaCapo has finaly arrived. And I got started right away. The wool is just perfect. I'm still not sure what size to make it though. Have to decide soon (the start is the same for all sizes). Normally I would choose an M size. But I've read some things about very long sleeves, and I'm also a bit worried that with time the finished jacket may become a bit bigger through wear and tear. So I may decide to go for an S.

Any advise on size is much appreciated!

DaCapo

Hello everyone,
I finished a DaCapo this spring, more details here. This was my first HF kit and it won't be the last--I found the design just brilliant. Beautiful wool, too.

Stockinette Anyone?

Has anyone tried altering any Hanne design by knitting all or part of it in stockinette rather than garter stitch? I love the shapes of her designs and the clever colorings, but I'm generally not crazy about how garter stitch looks and find knitting it very boring.

getting closer...

I've been knitting on Pagode #1 for 18 months now, and the end is in sight. Underarm seams are sewn, and the first sleeve extension/cuff is 2/3rds done.

I did run out of the ivory yarn about 3 stripes from the end on the back--but was resourceful, and tea-dyed some J&S Shetland to nearly match Hanne's yarn. I'm knitting the XL size.

I still have the sleeves to finish, additional sleeve seaming and 2 pockets to knit and sewn in. Woot! Close to the end. Fit is acceptable, but on the large side. Large is better than small...

More photos and details on my blog: http://www.randomthreads.com/?p=290

Progress on Pagode

With over 300 stitches per row, it's quite a slow going. But I'm glad to see the pattern emerging. This is half a front and one sleeve. Fun to knit and lovely yarn.

My previous posting is here.

Another Mermaid Question

With the hot weather coming, has anyone tried knitting a Mermaid or other Hanne pattern using a fine cotton or linen yarn with the appropriate guage? The thought of starting mine in wool right now is overwhelming - I can just imagine having hour upon hour of it sitting on my lap in a pool of sweat.

Mermaid Question

Has anyone knit a mermaid using a slightly heavier yarn (with a lower gauge) and compensated by making a smaller size. So, for example, if you would normally be a size L, knit a size S but using a sport weight yarn (with say 22 sts/4") rather than the state guage? How did it work?

Finished with LUDO children´s jacket

I got so bored with this project that it´s taken me forever to finish it!
But here it is in all it´s beauty. I´m very happy with the result at least.
There´s a good 1/3 of the yarn left if not more, which makes me a bit sceptical that I´ve done something wrong, but the knitting is right on gauge and the jacket fits. Except the super-wide arms, but I´ve taken care of that.

Now I just have to get some nice hooks and my 4-year old will have his new Hanne Falkenberg LUDO jacket.

Introducing myself

Hi everyone,

I'm new here, and new to Hanne Falkenberg. I've just ordered my first kit this week; DaCapo no 8. I am now waiting impatiently for it to arive!
I've just re-discovered knitting this winter. I learned knitting as a child from my mother. Knitted my first pair of socks when I was at primary school. During my teens I knit a lot of sweaters. But then I stopped. Knitting wasn't the 'fashion' anymore and I had other hobbies. But this winter I discovered a site with beautiful knitted socks, and I decided to give it a try. Since then I've not been able to stop! But now it's time for something else and that's how I stumbled onto Hanne's creations.

I am really impressed with the things you've all made. Seems to me that a lot of you are working on the Mermaid at the moment. I've seen some beautiful pictures. You can all be very proud of yourselves!

Hope to join you all soon as a real Hanne Falkenberg knitter.

Tessa

LaStrada Spreadsheet Clarification

Just fixing a few things I noticed in the first revision of the spreadsheet, and I realized that I'm distributing the S/M size, not the M/L size. Silly me. Sorry for the confusion.

Also note, it currently does not include the sleeve.

Spreadsheet for LaStrada

I can't take the credit for creating this one. Ellen has put it together and I'm handling the distribution. This time it's LaStrada, size medium. So far, the right side is available, and she's working on the left side.

As always, e-mail me and I'll send you a challenge question to verify that you own the pattern. Information on the other spreadsheets I offer is here.

Da Capo-ette

I finished a De Capo last fall and wore it alot this winter. One day, sitting in particularly cold meeting room, it occurred to me that I have plenty of wool left over to make a matching pullover shell. Imagine that, a twinset! It is in progress now; I haven't worked out all the details and won't need if for several months. Has anyone else tried their hand at designing something Falkenberg-esque with leftover yarn?

I'll post a picture when I get the front finished.

Ellen

There's a new Falkenberg kit!

I just discovered there's a new Hanne design. I don't think it's up on the official Falkenberg site yet, but found it in a Norwegian online shop called Pinnsvindesign. It's called Plissé (which means pleated). I like the shape of this, and ordered one immediately.

And another one...

More pictures at my blog www.lulsblog.blogspot.com

Another finished Mermaid

Three cheers for Amy's spreadsheet!! She's done it again: helped yet another lost soul to manoeuvre her way through the minefield of an HF pattern with no problems at all. Not one visit to the frog pond, I swear.

I have now finished my Mermaid colourway 8 (now dubbed "the hot pink one") - as you can see from the photos above.

Having read all about all the problems of garter stitch stretching, I made my tension on the tight side, so it fits perfectly. When I blocked the sleeves, I eased them out an inch to the perfect length (I have short arms so I normally look like I'm wearing my big sister's clothes, if I'm not careful). It says in the pattern that, once you wash it, the wool sort of relaxes and so I am expecting it to grow a bit, which won't be a bad thing.

It had its first outing this morning and had a lot of admiring comments. Can't wait to do the next one!!

Ballerina

I love the thought of knitting Ballerina, but the more I think about it, the more I am persuaded that it isn't going to be flattering for me. Which is disappointing. I have the pattern, I have the yarn, but... I don't want to knit something and not like the way I feel when I wear it!

Has anyone made it and found it flattering?

Perhaps it is time to knit another Mermaid! Or one of her other patterns.

Ludo jacket - progress

Finally! Some progress on my son´s LUDO jacket.
I actually almost finished the first half before measuring gauge - call me lazy. And I´m spot on, to the millimeter! The reason for measuring were the super-wide arms, which are as they should be according to the pattern. I will probably try to narrow them down when putting the whole thing together, and if I´m feeling very brave I´ll even cut off the excess (after thorough sewing of course).

This jacket has really been playing a few games on me, as it seems what is referred to as the wrong side and the right side in the pattern seems to change throughout. This gave me an odd number of rows, and it just went horribly wrong. I ripped it several times before I finally understood that it was actually ok, it just ended up beeing backwards/opposite sides compared to the pattern.

Also, since the pattern is juuust boring enough to seemingly let me concentrate on watching TV or surfing while knitting, every now and then I would forget to knit two together every other row, alternatively forgetting not to knit two together in the pattern rows. Deeming me to more ripping. So even though it is simple, this project needs concentration!

This has been a bit of an irritating project, actually. But I seem to have the hang of it now, soon ready with the second and last part.

Question on Ballerina spreadsheet for Amy

Amy,
I was reading the updated spreadsheet for Ballerina size m/l and here is my question. I notice that it ends with Row 1302 with only a single transition row being knit. Is this the final row or do I need to do a couple of more transition rows as per the first sleeve? Page 43 doesn't indicate that you knit any rows although row 1304 is partially filled out. I am thrilled beyond belief that you were able to provide this for all of us who would nevere have been able to knit this garment without your remarkable tool. Many thanks over and over again.

Mermaid

I have finished the body of my mermaid and am now working on the first sleeve. Unfortunately too much knitting during easter break caused a tennis elbow. Sigh.
For the body (size S) I used a provisional cast-on and an I-cord bind of. It worked oút just perfect! I have reduced the lenght of the sleeve with 10 stitches as everybody seem to agree on them being too long.
I just wish I could knit more than 2 rows a day, this way it will take me a year to make the sleeves.

Tweedie

Hi everyone! It's been awhile since I've posted, but I've been reading everyone's posts and loving your HF knits. I finished my Mermaid back in March of 2006. I'm just now reading to think about starting the Tweedie kit I already have.

I took one look at the directions and I'm totally confused;

"Knit 3 rows from the same side....each row with a separate ball. Slide stitches back to other end of needle between each row. Then turn and knit one row from the other side of work using all three colors at the same time."

Is it just me, or is that totally confusing? Do I knit each row three times? Yikes! Has anyone started Tweedie or knit it in the past and do you have any clues for me?

Thanks in advance.

Annie

Pagode Cast on

I'm new on this blog and new to Hanne Falkenberg sweaters. I bought a Pagode kit last year (there are some write ups on my blog here and here) and finally had a chance to cast it on this past weekend. So far I really enjoy the yarn. I'm making the smallest size, so as to avoid counting more than 386 stitches.

Pyramide

Hallo everybody who knows / and remembers the PYRAMIDE-chaos of last September!

After almost 7 months of knitting I'm really proud to present the 3/4 finished jumper and I would be even prouder if this piece of art would fit me.
the jumper is simply too short - it fits well at arms & shoulders but 5-8 cm more in length would be needed. Right now I'm finishing off the sleeves and the neck - and I hope to get some good ideas of how I can add some length.
Has anyone come across a similar probelm ?

Any suggestions welcome !

Gruss Eva

Mermaid spreadsheet question

I'm knitting Mermaid in size Large. did anyone adjust the spreadsheet to make a Large version?

Ballerina Finished

Here is the Ballerina. I actually finished this in early November, but I've been lazy about taking pictures. I thought I'd go to Petra and take pictures there, but I've not been to Petra once in the time I've lived in Jordan. Now, it's going to get hot here, so when I went to California last month I took the Ballerina and left her there. So, no fancy photos, but here she is anyway:

Here you can see the big panel of stripes that goes under the arm. What I particularly liked about this jacket is that the sleeves are knit as-you-go, which is good for me since I hate knitting sleeves.



Here is the detail of the sleeve and neck. I really like the way the different angles of the ridges come up to the arm and meet.



What I don't like about the jacket is how it just hangs off of me. It is pretty heavy, and it wants to pull back and make my shirt choke me while it just droops over the front of me. Still, I wore it a lot here this winter.



Here is the back. I love the shaping of this jacket. My husband picked the colors. I would have gone with one of the three color choices, but I'm really glad he picked these. For one, this jacket goes with most everything I wear, and the simple colors of this combination make me look more at the knitting than the palette, and I just love the shaping.



Here are my two Hanne projects. Less than a year ago I found her web site and declared I'd never pay that much for a kit, and, well, here we are. I enjoyed knitting both of these, and I wear them both often. I am an experienced knitter, but I'd never done such a large project with short-row shaping, and I enjoyed learning something new.


Lessons from the Ballerina:
1. Hanne’s patterns are not perfect. I used them as guidelines. It's important to have symmetry with her patterns, but it's not the end of the world if you have 200 stitches going into a sleeve and you're supposed to have 204. Just do the same thing throughout, and it will turn out.
2. Hanne thinks that women have arms that are no less than 2 meters long. I'm short-ish, and I shortened the sleeve lengths for both the Mermaid and the Ballerina. When I began the first Ballerina sleeve, I read in her pattern that there is the option to shorten or lengthen within her guidelines, and I shortened even more than her pattern "permitted." Still, they are quite long on me. Don't be fearful about shortening sleeves on her patterns!
3. There is no use for me in reading the whole pattern ahead of time; I have no short-term memory. But, I did find it helpful to read each section prior to knitting and asking myself if her directions made sense. The garments are beautiful, but the patterns are not user-friendly. Focus on symmetry rather than strict adherence to her pattern.

Thanks for letting me join your knit-along!

Need Encouragement

I have to confess that I have been sitting on a pile of yarn waiting to become a Mermaid for almost a year. I agreed to knit a second Mermaid for a friend and have put if off by compulsively knitting socks. Many, many socks. I need to find the energy to knit something that takes more than a week to complete. Any suggestions?

Ballerina Spreadsheet Update!

The much awaited Ballerina spreadsheet update has been sent out! This update includes the entire 2nd sleeve for both sizes. It was really hard to work through this part because the "mirroring" and the written instructions didn't always sync up, no matter what I did. So I had to take a few liberties to make it work out right, those are explained with the spreadsheet. With the spreadsheet, I could easily count ridges and stripes to see if it all mirrored up. I can't imagine how much of a pain it would be figure this out while you were actually knitting it.

Anyway, if you're on the list for Ballerina, you should have the update in your e-mail. If not, e-mail me.

If you are interested in the spreadsheets for Ballerina or Mermaid, click here to find out more.

Public Shaming, please.

Hello everyone! Since discovering this knitalong I've been motivated to begin work on what has become my #1 Most Shameful Unfinished Purchase. Clearly I am spoiled and/or lazy, to have this kit sitting on the top of my shelves in my yarn room for a year and a half after coveting it online for a year previously. That's two and a half years, people!

I have a swatch. It has been washed and is perfect! Seeing all the finished Mermaids and other Hanne designs will help. Anyone here can also make me feel guilty for having the money to spend on this and then just letting it sit around. Let the guilt be my motivation!

Diva

hi. I'd like to knit Diva. I have the pattern but want to knit it in my own choice of colours, using Jamieson's Shetland wool which is a good match for the wool Hanne Falkenberg uses. Does anyone know what the yarn weights are so I don't order too much or too little?

Mermaid 8 - the hot pink one

Here are some photos of my part-completed Mermaid in colourway 8 - cyclamen, brick red and thunder blue. I think the top one is more accurate in terms of colour but neither really does them justice. They are gorgeous!

Thanks to Amy and her wonderful spreadsheet, this has been remarkably straightforward so far. I made sure my tension was correct - not something I have always been rigorous about in the past, I admit. This time, I didn't want to risk it.

As you can see, I have nearly finished the body. Just need to do the sleeves and the i-cords. I have opted for Amy's idea of a provisional cast on which I will undo in order to make the two i-cords match. But I'll be saving that for a day when it isn't school holidays and I can have some peace and quiet!!! It's not always easy doing something like that with a 6 year old boy and a nearly 4 year old girl bouncing around me, asking lots of questions...

Modeling Mermaid

A few people asked me about how well Mermaid fit, my typical clothing size, etc. I've been wearing Mermaid quite a bit since spring seems to be delayed this year in Chicago and the weather has been quite cold (it's snowing today!). However, my personal photograher (otherwise known as my husband) isn't always handy when I'm wearing it. Finally, here are a couple photos of me wearing Mermaid. The details follow.




This is a size Medium Mermaid. In my previous post about finishing this project, I noted that the sleeves came out a bit longer than I prefer, but otherwise it fits very well.

At this point in time, I typically wear a U.S. size 14 (*gulp*, I'm working on losing weight). This translates to approximately a 40-inch bust and 42-inch hips. At times I do pin the jacket closed and it still fits well, although the gussets are not as flared as they probably should be. I think this knitted fabric can be very forgiving and stretchy, and I'm sure it will look even better after I lose some weight.

Now...can someone who has finished Ballerina return the favor? I would love to make another HF design, but wouldn't dream of doing so without one of Amy's spreadsheets, such as she made for Mermaid and is in the process of making for Ballerina. However, I'm concerned that Ballerina may not be that flattering to someone with my body shape. I do not believe that women with larger frames and figures should wear boxy, baggy clothing. I think Big Girl Knits explains this very well and find their advice very applicable: curvy women need to draw attention to their assets and accentuate their curves. Does Ballerina do this?

I-cord after provisional cast-on

After reading all the posts here I did a provisional cast-on when beginning my mermaid. But now I can't remember nor find how to make the I-cord !! Stupid me!!
Can someone help me?

mermaid

This is how my mermaid look so far.