Julekuler - 55 Nordic knitted balls - "New Snow" 4/55 and "Snowman" 5/55

Hi all! 

This post is a thematic continuation of the previous one :) Please, do take a look at my previous blog note if you're not sure what this one is all about :)

Another crafty week has passed that has been dominated mostly by my after-hours late night knitting and cross stitching. (Do I ever have non-crafty weeks? The answer is No!I'm a genuine Craft Addict!) This week I concentrated mostly on knitting my next Nordic woolly balls and I'm really having fun with these. I got hooked!!! I love the yarn, I love my bamboo needles, I love the balls pattern, I love to see how they grow dangling down my knitting needles ...

So here is another knitted ball called "New Snow" 4/55 I really enjoyed knitting this one - lots of red colour and a lovely snowflake pattern. Stuffed with something that looks to me like polyester fibre. Not sure 100% though. Springy and soft wadding. Keeps the shape quite well, I think.

(New Snow 4/55)

And "Snowman" 5/55 

Experimented with wool cotton wadding this time. No good. It seems to clump up inside the ball and makes the ball hard to the touch.

(Snowman 5/55)

With 5 knitted balls on the counter, now there are "only" 50 balls to go! Hopefully by Christmas 2012 I will have had them all!

This is what they look like together:

 and on the grass :)

I'm still working on the stuffing techniques trying to achieve as spheric shape as possible and this can be more tricky than it seems. Some of my balls still look more oval rather than round. Tut-tut-tut! Perhaps knitting them more loosely could help. Any suggestions anyone? :)

Hand-made Monday time. I'm joining up a bunch of clever crafters tonight. Do drop in and check out on some lovely blogs. 

Julekuler - 55 Nordic Knitted Balls - "Snow Crystal" 1/55, "Frost" 2/55 and "Snowflakes" 3/55

Hi everybody. Haven't been here for a while and wondered if the world has already forgotten about me :) As usual I've been busy crafting. Time to show what I have created recently :)

Last year, sometime in late autumn, pursuing my thriving interest in Scandinavan craft I bought this book "55 Christmas Balls to knit" by Arne & Carlos and I fell instantly in love with those Nordic woolly balls. There was a problem though - I couldn't knit and what's more - I hated knitting! I'd always thought it was boring and for grannies and pensioners. I used to shudder at the sight of my mum knitting socks for us and manoeuvring 5 needles at the same time. "How come she doesn't get confused making those stitches and rounds?" - would run through my head on and on.

Well, you see, it's all about an attitude..... I've changed my mind now. I've grown up. I feel ready now to take up knitting, well, at least some basic knitting for the time being :) Determined to make those gorgeous woolly balls for myself I collected all I needed - the right size needles, crochet hooks, wool and wadding. And when I flew back home for Christmas I even borrowed my mum's set of 5 double pointed kneedles and revised my VERY BASIC knitting knowledge with my mum and nan. Now, hands on knitting needles and time to start!

First I made a model ball using a single colour and needles of a bigger size.

Ta dah! New experience, new skill. Knitting is fun!
Pleased with myself I moved on to making the proper Nordic ball using two colours...
A bit of playing with wool, messing around, starting over and over again and finally...

 

Something had started to show up! Then I knitted my first Nordic ball! On cloud 9! I can do it! Woohoo!

("Snow Crystal" 1/55)

Another ball followed. Again, a bit of fiddling with the needles...

... and.. voile!

 

 ("Frost" 2/55)

 

Recently a third one has joined the woolly balls club :)

 ("Snowflakes" 3/55)

and currently I'm working on the 4th one! Enjoying myself a lot!!!

I can't get enough! I am knitting my nights away these days!
Counter: 52 to go!

Hand-made Monday time! Do drop and see for yourselves what other crafters have been up to! Well worth it!