My new umbrella swift

A few months ago, I first discovered the wonderful yarn store mylys, which is located in West-Hamburg.
They offer some of my favourite yarns including Malabrigo, Cascade, Schoppel and Zitron. And they also have a back room, in which one can wind the hanks into center-pull skeins. You have to do it yourself, but the usage is for free. Which is really great, since there are lots of knitters, who prefer to spend their money on new yarn instead. And nobody wants to knit from an unwound hank (If you don't know why, go and try it out...). And let me tell you something: a center-pull skein, that was wound with a yarn winder is veeeerrry handy. Unlike the traditional ball of yarn, with a center-pull you have easy access to either end of the yarn. And since it has a cylindrical shape, it won't roll away, no, it just sits exactly where you placed it. Imagine that!

I find the process of winding the yarn to be relaxing, it is something to do while watching telly. And so about half a year ago, I bought myself a yarn winder. With a crank. Super easy. And fast. And whatnot. Except for one tiny detail, I still had to hold the hank someplace, where it wouldn't get tangled while winding. So, like many others before me, I placed the hank around my knees, which works for awhile, but gets really tiring, because one mustn't operate the yarn winder too fast. And one needs to hold the yarn up and to guide it away from the knees, so that the yarn winder can pull it without yanking the whole hank though the air! Which happens if there is even a slight tangle. Or sometimes the yarn sticks together, it has something to do with the dye.

So, still a lot of problems. Which could be solved with just a bit of money... and so I ordered an umbrella swift, which arrived a few weeks ago and boy! This is amazing!

It is made out of wood and can be attached to the table. Very smooth handiwork. Good construction and overall a very good quality. The umbrella construction is nifty, so one can adjust the swift to the size of the hank since each manufacturer has his own idea of how long those hanks should be.
One still has problems if the yarn is tangled in itself, like the Malabrigo Arroyo (who wound that thing – it's a mess!) I wound with it Saturday evening. But the yarn as a whole is secure. And one has both hands free to unpick the tangles. And if you get interrupted, just leave everything where it is, it can't run away, now can it?

In summary: I should have gotten one ages ago!

My Katrina Sweater

And my second sweater is finished, too. The pattern is the Katrina Rib by Cookie A. The yarn is Malabrigo Arroyo in Borrajas.

I’m feeling a bit ambivalent about the yarn, though. It was a mess to wind into a skein, there are knots, a break, and some undyed spots. Skeins from the same dye lot vary, the second skein I used was darker than the first. The latter two points aren’t all that bad because the variegation in the yarn covers it up and keeps it interesting. On the other hand this yarn is sooo soft and squishy and non-scratchy and feels so very nice against the skin. The colour is amazing and it keeps together way better unlike Malabrigo Worsted, which starts to get fuzzy even while still on the needles. I love this yarn, but it still won’t get five stars from me because of the poor winding and the dyelot differences. And the fact, that a 100g-skein often weighs considerably less.

I found a mistake in the pattern, which can be found only in the bigger size L/XL. I’m very sure that this is not due to any mistakes I’ve made. I checked and rechecked and counted until I was blue in the face. It is definitely the pattern!
In round 57 it says right before the beginning of the travelling rib section to
…P3, K2, K2tog, move marker, K1…
This is impossible because at this point, there are only 3 knit sts before the marker. One stitch is missing!
I fixed this by going back all the way to round 49, where I added a purl stitch to the travelling section. Remember, this was the round in which that section originally did not get any increases. I didn’t rip it all out, I just dropped the neighbouring stitches and fixed it that way. Which was not all that easy, due to the k2tog in round 53. And the line of purl stitches cannot be seen, but it is there. And then it all fits.
As an alternative, I guess one could just forget the k2tog in round 57 and just k3 before the marker.

Otherwise the sweater is drop. dead. gorgeous.