The Dark Knit

Sniff Sniff

2009-11-15T13:16:00.006+01:00

I ♥ my perfumes!

I really love fragrences, and I can spend hours in the perfume-shop, sniffing away. In the past I'd usually stumble out of the store with a new perfume or two in the bag. But the last year, I've really discovered the wonder of online shopping, aspecially when it comes to perfumes.

Yes, I love being able to bring my new perfume home from the store, but when I can actually save as much as 50 % by patiently waiting for the box to come in the mail, I'll do it.

This time I was looking for something new, so I went to a perfume-store to find the perfume I was going to buy online. I was looking for something a bit deeper, almost masculine as I always go for in the winter-months.

In the end, the choice was between these two:

Versace Crystal Noir OR Victor & Rolf Flowerbomb Extreme?????

It was a very close race, both has that deep floral quality that I love. But one of them had a slight chocolate-quality to the scent, so of course I had to go for the Versace perfume! :)

Now the search for the cheapest alternative begins, I checked out several online stores:

- EBay, of course (No luck, apparently shipping perfumes to Norway is tricky business)

- Strawberrynet (Turned out to be a bit expensive)

- Lookfantastic, Feelunique. (Not the cheapest)

But at the end I bought the perfume at perfume.com, which is totally new to me, but it was clearly much cheaper there than anywhere else. Total with shipping was 49 USD, compared to about the equivalent of 100 USD in Norway.

So now I'm just waiting for my package to arrive! :)

Best quote ever!

2009-11-14T11:58:00.002+01:00

"Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels." - Kate Moss

Found: Queen´s Wardrobe

2009-11-13T22:29:00.007+01:00

I love finding new exciting shopping-sites, and there are some really great stuff at Queen´s Wardrobe!

Reasonable pricing too, though I suspect the items are actually a eclectic mix of pieces sold in high-street chain stores.. Thought I saw a bracelet with H&M written all over it.. :) But no matter, Alexander Wang studded bag knock-off for 150 $? Yes, please!

Concept-twist

2009-11-13T16:42:00.004+01:00

Alright you guys, it's time to make some changes around here. It turns out that only blogging about knitting and other crafts is not enough for me. I just can't knit fast enough to update the blog every week.. :)

But I do have other interests and at least a few other interesting things going on in my life, so I'm going to expand the concept a little.

In addition to crafts and fashion, I will now share a bit more about my life, and things like beauty-products, travel, experiences, music, movies, shoppingtips and what not. I guess time will show if this is going to work out.. :)

By the way, it's snowing here.. Brrr.. Feels like its about time to think about Christmas gifts..

Rodarte Inspired Cardigan

2009-10-22T21:49:00.004+02:00

I like my new Rodarte inspired cardigan. It's cool and stuff.. :)

It's pretty versatile, but I've matched it here with my crocodilicous pants.

SO, what do you guys think?

How to make one just like it? You need to get out your left-over skins and threads, laces and whatnot, several different sizes of knitting needles and get started..

You can use the recipe that I posted earlier if you want. Just mix it up with a variation of gauge/tension, and different yarns. This piece is mostly alpacca yarn, but also cotton, thick wool, mohair, thin lace-like yarn and so on. And I got to use up some of the masses of leftover yarns or skins I've collected over the years. This is the perfect project for empty wallets!

I ♥ Rodarte

2009-10-14T16:55:00.000+02:00

The piece I'm working on right now is inspired by Rodartes famous knitting techniques.

Coming soon..

Tim Ryan

2009-10-11T11:39:00.005+02:00

Fabulousness courtesy of fashion156.com.

Get your sequins at:

2009-10-10T16:31:00.006+02:00

Love these new sequins that came in the mail from ccartwright.com.

Great quality & super fast shipping!

Something of mine is going to get adorned. Stat!

Easiest Cardigan Ever!

2009-10-01T17:28:00.006+02:00

I'm so pleased with the outcome of this cardigan!

You know those projects you start when you cant be bothered to go to the yarn shop, and you happen to have some old yarn lying around?

Actually, I have a lot of old yarn. This blue green purple yarn was leftover from a project that ended in disaster.

And I know I say this alot, but this piece was actually ridicoulusly easy to make!

The formula is(for a small/medium/large size):

Thin and soft yarn, (alpakka or anything you like)

Thick needles (larger than 6, up to 12, but remember the amount of stitches)

First round, you need almost twice as many stitches as an usual sweater. (about 4-500, depending on the needle size)

Now, you knit back and forth until you have a suitable length from the arm-hole down.

(You can use moss-stitch, cable knit, ribbed knitting, or have a frontside and backside like I did)

When you get to the armhole length, find the center-stitch of the sweater and count ca. 60 stitches from this point. Mark this point with a thread or needle.

Knit from the end until you reach the marking thread, cast/fasten off about 15 stitches, knit another 90 stitches, cast/fasten off the same amount as earlier, and knit the round through.

You now have 3 pieces that you knit separatly, you can keep the stitches on the same needle or use others.

On all the three pieces next to the armhole; lay off 2-1-1 masks on the next 3 rounds.

Now you keep knitting until you have a generous length for the armholes. Cast off the middle section.

You now have to make an assessment as to how many stitches your shoulders are, say about 20 stiches, cast theese off on both front sections, next to the armholes.

You should now have 2 leftover sections on each front piece, keep knitting back and forth until you have a suitable length for the two pieces to meet at the back of the neck. When both pieces are equal in length, cast both off.

Now it's time to break out the needle: Join the two front pieces to the back piece and make the shoulders. Join the longer frontpieces in the back of the neck, and close the hole in the neck, and the armholes.

So that was the main piece, now for the arms. If you need to have arms. :)

Get out your armsized round needle, pull the thread through each stitch starting from the armholes bottom. If you've never done this, you can also use a crochet needle, and transfer the stitches to the knitting needle as you go. In the end you should have a suitable amount of stitches for an arm piece.

When you have done this all around the armhole, you can start knitting back and forth again, making the arm as long as you like. Cast off at the end, and repeat on the other arm.

Try to make the same amount of stitches on both arms. Finally, sew the two sides of the arms together.

And voila! If this recipe made any sense at all, you should have a pretty cosy cardy at the end.. :)

H&M so rocks right now!

2009-09-29T20:45:00.010+02:00

Buckle up, cowgirls, and get ready to go to bananas in your local H&M store..

I've been to a few releases of guest designers at H&M, and it's always total mayhem..

One little trick is to pick out a store outside of the main street, I've found many of these designer clothes and such in smaller stores days later..

So here is the calendar for the up-coming releases:

November 14, 2009: Jimmy Choo - Clothing, accessories, and of course: SHOES!

December 5, 2009: Sonia Rykiel - Lingerie and accessories!

February 20, 2010: Sonia Rykiel - Knitwear and accessories!

May the strongest, most determined woman win.. But I warn you, if you're shopping in Oslo, I'm almost 6 feet of fashion crazy, so watch out! ;)

I leave you with a preview of the Choo collection:

The Neighbourhood

2009-09-20T16:15:00.004+02:00

Not too shabby, ey? :) I have moved since I last posted pictures of my neighbourhood, so I just had to share this. I was out jogging and had to stop for a few minutes to enjoy this amazing view. (Snarøya outside Oslo, Norway)

Autumn at Benetton

2009-09-16T20:46:00.005+02:00

I always check out United Colors of Benetton for knitwear, and I wasn't disappointed this time either. I see a lot of interesting details here, love both the assymetric sweater and that coarsely braid knitted skirt. Definitely on my to-do list..

And are those velvet pants? I'm thinking I'll have to check that out in the store soon..

Rawrr!

2009-09-09T17:52:00.006+02:00

Well, Alexa Chung did it so.. so can I! :)

After many a night on the sofa knitting like a mad woman, my leopard inspired jacket is done!

It came out pretty much how I expected, so it's all good :)

Let me tell you, I spent two nights alone on fastening the lose threads on the back of the pattern..

Material: Alpacca yarn - black, brown and beige and gold thread.

This is the picture I used as a template for the leopard pattern, i just switched the colors around a bit.

I dont really have a chart or pattern for this, I just played it by ear.

Sounds scary? Just try knitting patternless, it's actually pretty fun. And you get something truly unique in the end.

You can do it! :)

So, on to the next project.. More on that later!

The Fall/Winter 09 Report

2009-09-02T18:08:00.003+02:00

So, I've scoured the Fall Winter 09 Designer Collections for anything knitted.

This year, it seems the knitters have been sent on holiday, in favour of leather and fur.

(Boo on that last one..)

Anyhoo, at least Dries Van Noten, Etro and of course Sonia Rykiel and Missoni had some knitted pieces.

Hey, You Stud!

2009-08-25T23:11:00.003+02:00

I can't say it often enough:

Get your studs on ebay, and make any outfit trendy!

These cool triangle studs will go on my new velvet asymmetric dress.. I'll follow up with pictures of that soon.. :)

Mark Fast. I die!

2009-08-20T21:30:00.003+02:00

Projects, projects, projects..

2009-08-19T16:56:00.004+02:00

Say that 10 times fast, right? :)

Well, as always I'm juggling a bunch of projects at once. I never get more than halfway through a piece before the next one is all planned out. Which explains why my apartment is soon stacked to the ceiling with sweaters, beenies and scarves... Because for some reason that is pretty much all I make.. haha!

So of course my current knitting project is a sweater.
There's nothing much to take pictures of yet, but I can reveal that the yarn is alpacca, and there is a particular inspiration behind the piece.

Grrr.. :D

So last night I was knitting, and I started thinking about an upcoming event at work, which will require a new dress. After a few hour of looking online for the type of dress I want, I've come to the conclusion that I'm going to have to make it myself.

It will be an asymmetric and draped, hopefully black, velvet dress. With some studded accent. Sounds good, or crazy? :)

Bought studs on ebay last night anyway:

You can really "save" old clothes and bags with some well placed studs!

Summer is over

2009-08-16T12:22:00.012+02:00

OK, so I guess I'm back in business.. :)

Thank you all for your lovely comments on my last post, it really gave me that push I needed to get my camera out and take some pictures of my finished projects.

It's a rainy Sunday here in Oslo, so perfect for blogging. :) Sadly, it's been a disappointing summer here in Norway. Pretty much rainy all through July. Blah. So now I'm just ready for autumn. Thick knitted scarves, sunglasses and a double cappucino's in the autumn sun. Actually my favorite time of year..

Well, since it has rained for 2 months, I've had lots of time for knitting.

This piece is an idea I came up with after seeing this piece in Stella McCartneys Spring 09 Collection:

Stella really embraced the filet crochet technique in this collection, and I really liked the tropical theme of the pattern with the pineapple. Cool cool. And of course I wanted to make something similar.. :)

Please forgive the poor quality of these pictures, I'm still trying to figure out my camera.. :/

The pattern is two palms, and some seagulls. The color a deep coral, and the yarn is cotton.

I made an open back, but I think the top can be used either way..

Pair it up with jeans shorts and some cool sandals and you're ready for summer fun.. :)

Learn how to filet crochet

Filet crochet patterns

OK, I might be getting back into blogging. :)

2009-08-14T13:21:00.005+02:00

It's been a long while since I last blogged. I just went totally out of ideas there for a period. But I think I'm back in business again.. :)

I have a lot of new projects to write about, and many finished projects too.. Can't wait.

Meanwhile, any knitting enthuasiast should hit up net-a-porter.com for inspiration. I did, and these two sweathers are perfect projects! (from left: McQ and Helmut Lang)

That slouchy front effect on the second sweater is SO in this fall, and SO easy to duplicate!

Sorry, I've totally lost interest in blogging.. :/

2009-02-28T17:34:00.001+01:00

Blame Polyvore! :)

Slumber - by Kjersti (●̮̮̃●̃) Raid my closet on Polyvore.com

Oops, I made a mess.. - by Kjersti (●̮̮̃●̃) Raid my closet on Polyvore.com

~´Jingle Bells `~

2008-12-23T23:17:00.000+01:00

Ho Ho Ho!

The season of creditcards & gluttony is upon us, and I give you some fabulous examples of what NOT to make just because you can. ;D

Although I definitely see the humor in wearing one of these festive sweaters, I doubt if it can look good on anyone.. But one day, I will make one.. And maybe I'll wear it like this ;)

Can a Christmas Sweater look cool? by TheDarkKnit

Found this cute knitting chart too..

Merry X-mas!

Banglemania!

2008-12-16T12:02:00.003+01:00

If you are like me, and usually spends the last days before christmas going INSANE over what to give to people, you might want to check this out:

This is a do-it-yourself ANYBODY can do, all you need is some decorative string, and a simple bangle. You get it? ;) You wrap the string around the bangle, and voila! A cool, personalized bangle!

It can be any kind of string, metal string, plastic, fur yarn or classic yarn types.. Maybe you have some old left-over skins lying around? I know I do..

And this is what you get:

Pink glove says Hi!

2008-12-13T12:15:00.008+01:00

So I'm thinking it's about time I present another design, because I see by the apparant lack of comments that I'm boring you with fashion blabber, you want results! And here it is..

(Size 2 needle, neon pink alpakka yarn)

It's another one of my self-composed pieces, I don't often make gloves, and it was a challenge getting the fingers right, aspecially since I have freakishly long & thin fingers.. ;)

On a different note, you can see the great weather in Oslo lately.. Blah..

I would rather be here:

(Moi, in Mauritius Winter '08)

If you are curious about what I'm making theese days, I can give you a little sneak peak - The sweaterdress will be finished any day now.. :)

(More alpakka yarn, this time multicolored green, blue and purple..)

Knitwear designer: Mark Fast

2008-12-12T09:25:00.004+01:00

Another innovative knitwear designer, Mark Fast, look him up..

♥ Dreamy pink dress

2008-12-10T20:19:00.004+01:00

I fell in love with this amazing creation Norwegian Artist Maria Mena is wearing on her album cover & her video for All this time. It's a perfect example of the unique fashion you could create if you only had enough yarn & time..