I think I got that word right. As far as I can figure, it means "finished". Technically I'm only half-finished, since it's half of a pair, but this first one was a very successful experiment. I only fulled it by hand for a bit, then threw it in the dryer for about 20 minutes, so it still has pretty decent stitch definition. I need to try to figure out whether it's small enough or if more fulling is needed, but I figure I've got 11 months to decide.
I meant to write a bit about this yarn yesterday. As I've mentioned before, it's Strikkegarn from the Rauma yarn company in Norway. When I started working with it, I was a little surprised to find that it has that same "velcro" quality as Shetland wool. It doesn't say what breed the wool comes from, but I would think that spælsau is a good guess, especially since as far as I can tell, most sheep in Norway are at least the descendants of spælsau crosses. It's not a fine wool by any means - rather scritchy on the back of the neck but tolerable on the hands - but that velcrosity makes it full beautifully. And this little experiment has shown me that substituting the 3-ply Strikkegarn for the 2-ply yarns this pattern book calls for is going to work very well for fulled mittens.
A Little Geek Confession
While I was finishing this mitten up (and while I'm typing this, actually), I found me an online Norwegian radio station to listen to. Now, I don't speak Norwegian - yet. I've wanted to learn the language for a long time, for a variety of reasons, but it's not that easy to learn outside a structured program, particularly without a chance to practice. I thought it would be good for knitting a Norwegian mitten, though, to put myself in a Scandinavian state of mind. I've found that I can usually pick out enough words to figure out what they're talking about, just not enough to understand exactly what they're saying.
It also appears that Norwegians love 80's music. I don't think I've ever heard a newscast fade into "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" before. No a-ha, though, for some reason. It's a shame, 'cause that Morten Harket has still got cheekbones for days.
9 comments:
Truly gorgeous mitten. It almost seems a shame to felt them a lot when the stitch definition is so pretty.
Looks great! I saw that picture and thought you had finished both of them already!
When I saw that picture, I thought "Holy Crap, he knits fast!" Then I realized that it's two sides of one mitten; I feel better :) It's one beautiful mitten, that's for sure!
Jeg gratulerer!!!
Yup, you should learn Norwegian...and I need to pick it up again. :-p
They are amazing!!
With the title of your post plus "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun," honey, you're gonna have Googles for days...
Your mittens are lovely. I have a friend moving to Norway at the end of the summer...her husband does something with fish, herring I think. Anyhow, we're in Augusta, would you visit my blog and give me the radio station that plays Norwegian so I can send it to her? Thanks!
Very cool mittens! Most impressive.
I studied Norwegian a bit back in college. I love how easy their verb system is. I just got a lot of interference from my German, especially on the genders of nouns.
at slutte means to stop at least in danish. to finish is something as outlandish as to færdiggøre in infinitive. and in your case færdiggjort.
gøre is to do or to make.
færdig is to finish.....
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