Finishes and Frogging

I had a swarm of finished objects here at the end of December.  Most were gifts for Christmas and one was a just languishing project. The gift knitting was not coming along as I wanted it too, but I did rally managing to put aside my Fair Isle Vest for the time being.  First up were the two scarfs for my friend Anna's friends, who have now become my friends (don't you love it when that happens?)  The one was a lattice design using a thick aran weight yarn, the other was simply textured in a luxurious angora/silk yarn.  When I finished those two knits I quickly wrapped them posting them just in time for Christmas.  Phew!  Then comes my biggest accomplishment - I finished my mothers' cardigan sweater.  Wow, I just love how it came out.  The best part is the colorwork was much looser this time around (I knit this same sweater for her 2 years ago and my stranded knitting came out pretty tight) so it was a breeze to block into shape.  The collar lays down much better too on this version, as I made a few discrete decreases in the last couple rows.  It is a touch big on her, but she really loves it and that's the main point.  

After that project I whizzed through making some felted slippers for my son.  He asked for them way back in September so I'm a bit late getting to them, but now they are done.  They are Minecraft themed after a famous Youtuber iBallisticsquid who my son watches.  His Minecraft character is a squid and this is what the face looks like.  You see my son already has the same size feet as I do (US sized 8 1/2 Women's) at the mere age of 9 so the "fun" slippers for children don't fit him anymore.  And being only nine he of course wants fun slippers. Thankfully they were a hit.

My last completed object is a pillow of a chicken for myself.  It's the Oluffa doorstop by Lucinda Guy.  I have no use for a doorstop, or a pillow either for that matter, but I adored this pattern the moment I saw it.  It was my Christmas Day knitting and I finished her in just a few days.  We're still thinking up a name for her - any ideas?  The only tricky thing is there are some very long floats, but I did a bit of duplicate stitch in some areas to get around that.  All in all it's a very fun knit with embroidery added and I would highly recommend it to anyone.  

I was hoping to finish my White Russian sweater by Thea Coleman as it was already about 1/2 done, but sadly I frogged it instead of finishing it.  The sleeves were really, really big and I tried to fix them twice, but decided it is ultimately a flawed design for my body shape and desired fit.  I have a large bust, but average sized arms and with a top down raglan the only way to enlarge the bust is to enlarge the sleeves as well.  After reading more about sweater designs I am going to go back to a bottom up pieced sweater with set in sleeves.  You really have lots more control over sizing when knitting all the pieces separately and seaming afterwards.  Thus I frogged it, re-skeined the yarn and gave the yarn another bath so it will be all smooth and fresh with which to knit another sweater.  This is the sweater I'm planning on with an added turtleneck.  It will be my first Custom Fit Amy Herzog sweater so I thought I'd keep it simple.  

Today I'm swatching for a fresh knit to start in January.  My first choice is a Fair Isle turtleneck sweater for myself and second is this cabled vest for my husband.  I really should do my husband's first as he did not receive a knitted gift this year for Christmas, but oh the colors for the first are fabulous!   What are you working on?  Planning for the new year or just winging it?  I'm loosely planning to knit a mix of new and old projects, taking my time and knitting only things that I really love.  Happy New Year everyone!

Joining in with Ginny for Yarn Along.

YOP Updare - Christmas is Coming

Yes, I said "Christmas is Coming" or at least you'd think so at the rate I'm knitting gifts.  The fact that they are smaller projects that finish quicker I'm sure has nothing to do with it.  So, on to those gifts.  I jumped right into making a matching hat for my mothers felted mittens that I mentioned in my previous post.  It came out rather well I think even though the pattern calls for a yarn with drape, a quality which my sheepy sticky Shetland yarn definitely does not possess.  The striped brim, that I lined with angora yarn, ended up being a bit over three inches in order to fully cover my ears and is quite snug, then the body of the hat is loose and pulled down in the back.  My mom, most days, wears her hair in a ponytail so having this looser shape accommodates that hair style.  Sadly, I still have leftover yarn, but it's a small enough amount to relegate to the scrap bin.  As an aside, I really wish Ravelry had a "scrap" category for the stash section.  That way you would still have the yarn info. if you ever figured out a pattern to use up all your scraps, and it would free up your active stash yarn list to only full skeins.  Maybe someday...

With the mittens and matching hat now completed, I moved on to knitting another gift, but this time for my husband.  It's a pair of wool socks knit out of DK weight sock yarn from ONline.  It all started last year really when I knit his younger brother a pair of socks with this yarn using up a skein and a half for the pair.  Which left me with, you guessed it, a half of skein leftover - what to do?  Because of course, I had to do something I couldn't just let it lie.  Well, then I got to figuring all I needed to use up this yarn was to purchase another skein of it to knit a second pair of men's wool socks.  And, since my husband admired the first pair it seemed obvious that he should be the recipient.  Knitting a big pair of men's socks could be quite a challenge, but knitting up this pattern in DK weight yarn on US size 3 needles has been a breeze.  They are knitting up so fast I am already done with the first sock and I only started them 2 days ago, which makes me a very happy camper.  The fact that at this rate I will still be able to count them for Stash Dash makes me happy too.

Finishing all these gifts rather quickly, has me thinking about how I downgraded my mom to mittens (and now a hat too) for her Christmas gift.  She'll enjoy them and get a lot of use out of them I'm sure, but she really does need another sweater as many of hers are getting too worn to wear out and about.  So, I will give her these gifts for her birthday in October instead, and I'm going to try and challenge myself to knit her a sweater for Christmas.  I think why I was so quick to cut her sweater from my YOP list was I didn't want to knit the pattern I chose.  Instead of the Elizabeth Zimmerman pattern I originally planned on I am going to knit her another Kate Davies Blaithin.  This is a good switch for many reasons:  the yarn I earmarked for her sweater is enough to knit Kate's pattern, I really enjoyed knitting the 1st one I knit her, she loves the A-line styling, I think I can do a much better job on the stranded knitting section this time around (last time I knit it a bit tight and had to block real aggressively to get it to shape) and lastly I'll be using more of Jamieson's Soft Shetland yarn which can take the hard wear my mother puts her sweaters through.  Enough said.

Here's an update to the list as it now stands:

Baby:

Elijah the Elephant by Ysolda Teague Finished 7/29/15

Baby Surprise Sweater by Elizabeth Zimmerman Finished 7/27/15

Garter Ear Flap Hat by Purl Soho (Knit Sweet and Simple Baby Hat) instead Finished 7/28/15

Cowls and Scarves:

Classic Cowl by Purl Soho knit in handspun  Finished 7/6/15

Dudester Scarf by Jana Pihota 

Dryad by Jared Flood

For the Home:

Sock Yarn Braided Rug by Martha Lazar

My Oluffa Doorstop by Lucinda Guy

Cozy Coasters by Joelle Hoverson

Hot Out of the Oven Set by Knit Picks Design Team  (making the square pads) Finished 7/25/15

Out of the Frying Pan by Amy E. Anderson  Finished 7/18/15

Socks:

Taylor's Orange Toe Up Socks by Jasmyn Cunningham

Sweaters and Vests:

Blaithin by Kate Davies

Ground by Veera Valimaki

Glen Moir Vest by Luise O'Neill 

White Russian by Thea Colman

Tops:

Astonish Top by Katy Banks 

Jordan by Wendy Bernard

Mittens and Gloves:

Connnectivity Gloves by Mari Chiba

Nordic Mittens by Beth Brown-Reinsel

Double Knit Mittens by Sue Hedgecock

Felted Mittens by Joan Sheridan Finished 8/4/15

Hats:

Michele by Sarah Punderson Finished 8/6/15

A Family Tam by Beth Brown-Reinsel

Thanks for checking in.  To see other Year of Project participants check here.
Have a great week everyone!

Revisiting an Old Project

No, I've not finished the second mitten, or the navy and white summer top, but yes, I have moved on to another project.  I think I have a knitting specific ADD.  Well really, it occurred to me the other day that Father's day is about a month after mother's day and maybe I should make something special for my husband (especially after not knitting him anything for his birthday - for shame Ann.)  When given the option of this spiffy hat or another sweater vest he opted for the vest (he gets very cold at work even in the summer as he doesn't care for AC.)  It just so happens I have one halfway knitted from over 3 years ago.  Yup, you heard me right 3 years ago I started this vest, finishing the backside only to then panic that I would not have enough yarn to complete it so I promptly stopped knitting.  Because if you don't knit you won't run out of yarn and everything will be fine right?  Fine, but no sweater vest to wear.  Sigh.  So, I decided to get back to it for Father's Day and it seems to me I'll have enough yarn and if not, well then there's always contrasting trim right? 

The only bummer is a mistake I made in the middle of the back all those years ago - can you see it?  I made one whole grouping of cables tighter than the rest all the way across.  It's right smack dab in the middle of the back too.  Now, my quandary is do I replicate this mistake on the front panel so the seams match as they should or do I knit it correctly for the front and side seams be damned?  Notice how I don't mention re-knitting the back to fix said mistake?  It's just too much for this faint heart to unravel that much knitting.  What do you think?

Joining in with Linda for Creative Friday and Amanda for Fibre Arts Fridays. 

A Gift

My long time girlfriend was having a party for her birthday which I was going to miss due to being out of town.  So, instead of my presence I decided to knit her a present to celebrate her special day.  I sent it off in the post today even though she only lives about 20 minutes from me because we both LOVE getting packages in the mail.  We don't always exchange gifts, but sometimes the timing works out and I can knit something special for her.  I even shopped my stash for this one, Madelinetosh tosh dk, and COMPLETELY used up the yarn only having a few snipped off scraps leftover.  Yay!  I adore using up all my yarn on a project.  Leftover yarn seems sad and burdensome to me; it wants to "be" something, but it's never enough yardage.  

This is the pattern I chose for the hat which I followed to the "T" only adding a pompom at the end.  It turned out more beanie than slouchy as the pattern described, but I think that will fit Emily better anyway.  I used this fun free pompom maker for the pompom which you can simply download and cut out.  It works surprisingly well albeit a bit fussy.  The mitts I knit loosely based on this pattern and you can see my notes as to the changes here.  The combo is pleasing to me, but with one catch - if it's cold enough to wear the hat, you won't likely wear just fingerless mitts and if it's warm enough for the mitts you won't likely need to wear the hat.  Hmm... To solve this dilemma I purchased these stretchy gloves (which are also conductive so she can use her i phone with them on) to wear with the mitts on top of them to make them pretty.  Sorry no photo of this combo, as the gloves arrived in the mail after it was too dark for picture taking.

Now, I'm off to Washington DC for 3 nights and 3 days to spend with another longtime friend.  She is single with no children so it's an all girl, all grown up weekend and I couldn't be more excited!  I'm bringing my souffle dish in my carry-on bag along with truffles, tea and knitting - all the necessities in life ;) 

Joining in with Ginny for Yarn Along and Nicole for Keep Calm Craft On.

Cold Sheep and Stash Update - April

The end of April is upon us making it time for a Cold Sheep and Stash update!  If you read this post you know what I'm talking about and if not well, going "Cold Sheep" is a phrase for not buying yarn, but using up your stash of yarn instead.  I thought I would do a monthly update as to how I'm doing with my goal of "shopping" in my stash and today's the day.  My day total of going Cold Sheep is now up to 77 days!  Yay!  

Now, onto what skeins of yarn I have used up.  The sock yarn turned out to be a boon for my desire to knit Spring weight shawls and I used 2 skeins making Dragonfly Wings and Miss Winkle.  I am currently using a third sock skein with a skein of my indigo dyed sock yarn to make the shawl Pendulum.  Then I got a bee it my bonnet over the rest of the indigo dyed yarn and started on my first Christmas gifts for 2014!  Yes, you heard me right Christmas gifts!  I choose the Grrlfriend Market Bag, which just about uses up a full skein of my worsted weight merino yarn, as my friend gift for this year.  I'm making them in pairs using my brown walnut dyed yarn with the indigo/myrobalan teal.  Thus far I have two completed and 4 more to go (well, 5 really as I want one for me too.)  So, that's what's been knit - 4 skeins of yarn and 2 in process.  

I'm very pleased that this project has turned out to be such fun.  I was really worried I would feel deprived, but so far that hasn't been the case.  Knitting now is more like a challenging puzzle of matching my ideas and pattern wants to yarn I already have.  Who knew knitting could get even better?

Joining in with Nicole for Keep Calm Craft On.

Easy Recycled Gift Bag

I was sorting through our many photos, as tonight is my monthly Scrapbooking Night Out, and came across these two pictures which I thought I'd share with you all.  The photos aren't fabulous, but the idea I believe is one worth sharing.

 

We were invited to a 1st birthday party for a daughter of a high school friend and then promptly forgot about the party until the morning of.  We needed to come up with a gift and fast.  Luckily, I had a gnome doll already knit up and Sam chose one of his own books, Peter in Blueberry Land by Elsa Beskow, to give to baby Erica.  Now, all that we needed was to wrap it up, but  there was our true problem.  We don't use gift wrap.  I usually make a wrapping cloth or bag to give along with the gift, but all I had on hand was Christmas themed.  I didn't have any fabric, but I did have some old jeans that I had been using to patch the knees on Sam's pants (really all his pants knees blew out at once and I sewed 9 pairs in 3 days - whew!)  It occurred to me that I could just seam up the bottom of a pant leg and would have an instant gift bag.  So, I did just that and then finger knit some bulky weight yarn (on the car ride over to their house) to tie it closed.  I was so pleased I cannot tell you!  Now, we could have just gone out and purchased a gift bag and tissue, but it really goes against our principles on waste.  This bag was reusable and best of all recycled too!  If you have any old jeans on hand I recommend you give it a try.

Joining in with Linda for Creative Friday on a Saturday!  

Mother's Day Hat

In my previous post I showed you the yarn I spun for my mother's hat.  Well, I thought I'd show you my progress thus far.  The pattern I choose was slow going at first with lots of  little cables (of course this may be because I was using a smooth and slippery darning needle as my cable needle) but now it's clipping right along in stockinette stitch on size 9 needles.  Maybe I'll even finish it tonight, a whole day ahead of Mother's Day!  Woohoo!

 

Knitting with my own yarn really is a pleasure.  I think this is going to be a new trend for me.  Extending the knitting process by spinning the yarn I find really grounding.  I realized this past year I was consuming yarn at such a rapid pace that I would never get to it all, turning it all into a burden instead of a joy.  Having since sold off most of that yarn I feel lighter.  Now, instead of knitting just to knit and mindlessly consume, I am moving slower, thank you spinning wheel, and more thoughtfully to knit out of need.  This feels like a healthier balance for me.  So, now I want to start dyeing the fiber to stretch out the fun even more!

Joining in with Linda for Creative Friday.

Keeping My Hubbie Warm For Valentine's

It's cold here in Minnesota in the winter and it's even colder in the office building basement where my husband Dan works.  They always stick IT guys in the basement with no windows, fluorescent lighting and lots of computer equipment.  Dan nicknames it "The Bat Cave" after Batman's less than hospitable surroundings.  All this is "normal" in the career of an IT guy, but the problem lies in the fact that Dan is half Filipino and taking after his Filipino mother, he needs it warm, almost hot, to be comfortable.  Seriously, we struggle all the time with the thermostat as I like it cool, Scots as I am, and would love the house at 65 degrees Fahrenheit so I can wear all my wool sweaters and mitts.  On the other hand, he would love the house at 75 degrees or warmer.  We compromise at 70 degrees with me in bare feet and t-shirts and him wearing at least 4 layers - not ideal but marriage is after all a series of compromises right?

Oddly enough my prone to chills hubbie does not like sweaters as he finds them restricting of his arm movements,  Seriously I find this most annoying being a knitter, but I persevered and got him to at least like sweater vests.  My first vest for him was too casual for his work, my second was a tweedy green button down which is a little too noticeable if he wore it everyday as he wants to, so I am on to my third attempt.

I'm knitting the pattern Sal Paradise Vest by Nikol Lohr from her new book Literary Knits.  I wanted a fast knit and Aran weight yarn says fast to me.  The fact that it took US size 9 needles to get gauge also helps make it a speedy knit.  Dan requested black which I hate to knit with as it can be so hard to see your stitches.  But, I got around that problem with using a beautiful hand dyed yarn from Fleece Artist which is variegated enough to actually see what I'm knitting.  It's their Blue Face Leicester Aran in the colorway Ebony - beautiful no?

 

I'm finishing the bottom ribbing today along with the weaving in of ends and then will block it tomorrow.  A post with pics will then be next.  This vest is Dan's Valentine gift and the fact that it will actually be complete and ready to wear on Valentine's Day makes me exceptional happy.  So, I'm bringing my hubbie warmth on Valentine's Day to show my love and concern for his comfort.  What are you making for V day?

Gratitude Friday and Gift Giving - Shawl

Friday snuck up on me this week, hence the delay in today's post.  Why did this happened you ask?  Well, I started a part time job at my son's Waldorf School.  I am now the Community Development

Coordinator, which is a fancy way of saying I run the school's store and coordinate volunteers for our school events.  It's the first official job outside the home that I've had in eight years.  Yes, eight years.  It's going to take some getting used to I think.  So, this week I am grateful for the following:

1)  Being able to contribute to my family's finances in a significant way.  Thus, allowing my son to stay on at his fabulous school.

2)  My husband.  Yes, I could put him on the list every week, but this week was special.  He helped me brush up my resume, references, and write a cover letter and bio - all things I haven't done in twelve years.

3) My new coworkers who have helped me feel extremely welcome and wanted.

I'm at a bit of standstill with my gifts as I am waiting for a delivery with the final piece needed for my friend Emily's gift.  Which means all I have left to show you today is a gift I made myself.  I call it a gift because it was a project I did just for fun with no particular use in mind.  I used the Curatio Shawl pattern designed by the talented Kirsten Kapur.  And for yarn, I used a large skein of Rowdy Girl Sock Yarn dyed with plants by my friend Judy also know as Mamajudes on Etsy.  You can see the finished product below.

I modified the pattern by only doing 1 repeat of the final lace pattern instead of 2, and I knit a larger section in garter stitch along the bottom edge.  Honestly, I made lots of mistakes in this shawl.  I think the multicolored yarn made it hard for me to keep my place.  That and I put this project down and picked it up a lot instead of knitting for long sections of time.  I still think it looks good enough to wear and probably the variegated yarn which gave me trouble also masks some of those mistakes.  

What gifts have you made for yourself lately?

From the Stash - Artyarns

My stash is getting bigger with my plans for this years Christmas gifts.  Is this happening to you as well?  Today's yarn is earmarked for my husband Dan's gift of gloves.  I've always shied away from making gloves even though Dan prefers them over mittens.  Instead, I just keep making mittens for him and then he doesn't wear them.  Not the best cycle to be caught up in as it leaves us both disappointed.  It's the thought of all those double pointed needles needed for each individual finger that's kept me away.  But, now I've found a pattern from Meg Swansen called I-cord Gloves which has me thinking I might finally be able to tackle this accessory.  You see all the fingers are made from I-cords, which are then woven to the hand. 
Sounds simple right?

I found this yarn at my local yarn shop Skeins which is about 5 minutes from my house.  Artyarns Ultramerino 6 is a soft, soft merino yarn that is hand painted.  The colors match a hat I made for Dan sometime ago so much so that I'm wondering if it was the same colorway, but done on a worsted weight yarn?  I'll never know as I didn't save the previous label - sigh. The best thing about this yarn though is that it was on sale, and a sale yarn that I actually know what I going to knit with it is the best kind of yarn there is.

What great yarn deals have you found lately?

Gratitude Friday and Gift Giving - Mother's Day

Yes, Mother's Day was a while ago I know, but the finishing of the gifts just happened so I am including them in today's post.  My mom requested a purple and green hat to wear with her sage coat that she wears in the Fall and Spring.  She's a very matchy/matchy sort of person and all accessories must match her many coats.  This is fine by me as there is always something to make for her to fulfill this need.  

First, we glued ourselves to Etsy to find some hand spun yarn (I had made her a previous hat from hand spun yarn and she is now hooked) in the colors she wanted.  Etsy did not disappoint and we were able to find this colorway called "Clover" from Moondogswife.  It was a seductive blend of merino and silk - so incredibly soft!  Into the cart it went.

Next, we headed on over to Ravelry to find an appropriate pattern for the fingering weight yarn.  Hands down we both loved Bellefleur by Wooly Wormhead.  Beret styles are great if you tend to wear your long hair up like my mother; as there is ample room for your "bun" or 'twist" without your hair getting squashed flat.  

This pattern was very well written and was clear and concise.  That said, it was a difficult pattern for me and required ALL of my concentration.  There were many frogging moments when my mind wandered and I made mistakes.  I believe this was exacerbated by the multi colored yarn as it was hard to see where you were in the pattern, but this was what my mom asked for so I plugged away.  Actually, I became a bit obsessed with the hat and wouldn't touch any other knitting until I finished it (this is not at all like the normal me who jumps from project to project.)  When it was finally completed I must say I was mighty proud.  Below is my mom wearing minutes after I was finished.

I choose not to block it as my mother was perfectly content with how it was, and I didn't want to tempt fate and have it stretch out of shape.  My favorite element of the hat is the baby cable that works it's way from the ribbing all the way to the center.  So sweet.  My mother being a gardener likes the leaf motif the best.

There was still a fair amount of yarn left, and as I hate to let yarn bits just sit around I decided to make what I like to call a scarflette.  A scarflette is a narrow scarf that usually only makes it around your neck to tie once much like they wore scarves in the 1950's.  This one actually came out longer then I was anticipating making it around her neck twice.  The pattern was simply a one row pattern I made up.   

It came out rather pretty even if I do say so myself.

Now, onto my Gratitude List for the week:

1) The cooler weather we are experiencing in Minnesota after a truly ferocious July.  I can finally walk our black lab Easy without her panting like she's going to die.

2) My online homeschooling community which keeps me updated on all the great classes and events I can take Sam to this Fall.

3) My feet.  Yes, I love my feet.  There I've said it - phew that's a load off my mind :)  I love the way they look, how they get me places and how they are so flexible after all these years.  I repay them daily by giving them Birkenstocks to wear.  Not the most attractive shoe out there but my feet adore them even more than bare feet.

What are you grateful for this week?  Please share.  I'd love to here them!

Gratitude Friday and Gift Giving - Three Hats

 Another week has come to a close and my but the summer is going fast!  Are you finding that also?  All the back to school ads are popping up and everyone's thoughts seem to be turning toward Fall.  I too am thinking of Fall/Winter by continuing my Christmas in July (now August) gift giving project.  Our friends John and Sara just had their 3rd baby girl and what do you think of when someone has three daughters (besides paying for 3 weddings - ouch!) well matching hats of course!  Bring on the Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Moe hat pattern by Kathy Broughton. It's a cute elfish hat pattern in ascending sizes baby through adult.  So, here they are Eennie, Meenine and Miney (I saved Sara from a matching "Moe" hat as I thought that took the cute factor a little too far.)

 

They are knit from Malabrigo bulky weight merino yarn that comes from a sweater I decided to frog as it made me look well, lets just say rather large.  The buttons are from my Grandmother's extensive button collection which all predates 1950 which was the year she died.  I really enjoy it when I am able to use one on a project and share a little family history.

 

Here is my ever so helpful son Sam modeling the "Miney" size which will fit his friend Abigayle who is also 6 years old.  Isn't he a trooper for doing this for me?

I love how cute it looks from the back with that little pointed top.  

Are you working on your Christmas knitting projects yet?

Well, that's it for the gift giving, as for what I am grateful for this past week it would have to be the following:

1.  The wonder and awe my son has for each "new" thing that enters his life.  For instance the used fish aquarium we purchased through Craigslist for his birthday yesterday was not "used" in his mind but a wonderland for fish waiting to be set up.  Such joy!

2.  The vacuum cleaner.  Yes, it is a mundane everyday appliance, but oh I couldn't do without it especially since adding a black lab to our family.  I was warned about shedding, but I had no idea I tell you!

3.  Our couples counselor.  Having a third party, who doesn't take sides, help you understand your partner and vice versa I have found to be an invaluable tool in keeping a marriage strong.

I thought about not sharing that last one, but it was on the top on my mind simply refusing to be thrown aside.  Hopefully it's not TMI (too much information) as my cousin would say.  So, that's my top 3 blessings of the week.  What's on your gratitude list today?

Gratitude Friday and Gift Giving - Hat and Mitts 2

How's your week going?  I was in a bit of a funk for a good part of my week, but managed to turn it around by the end.  What caused this funk eludes me, my mother claims it was the solar flares, my friend the full moon, my husband claims it was my sore throat, but all I really care about is that it has lifted.  So, what am I grateful for this week?  Take a look.

1. Craft Night with my homeschooling mom friends.  It only occurs once a month as schedules are so busy, but it's worth the wait.  

2. The book The Yarn Harlot: the secret life of a knitter by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee.  I haven't had such a good laugh in a long time.  Reading about projects gone awry, works in progress and endless amounts of yarn - what's not to love?

3.  Packages in the mail.  I LOVE getting mail and a package is the best.  The anticipation, the arrival, the moment of opening it all thrills me to no end.  Of course, the packages are usually yarn and you can guess how I feel about that.

My gift giving this week was another hat and fingerless mitts set knit in Malabrigo yarn.  The hat pattern is aptly called Who? and is free on Ravelry.  It was a fun, fast and clever knit.  I went to my local fabric store to get buttons for the eyes and was so disappointed by the lack of selection.  White was pretty much my only option in the size I needed.  Are people just not sewing anymore?  Or maybe it's another sign of people doing their shopping online? Oh well, I think it still came out looking sharp.  

The mitts pattern I used is again the 75 Yard Malabrigo Fingerless Mitts.  It's just such a solid pattern and being able to squeak out 2 gifts from one skein is fabulous if you ask me.  The colorway is called Vermillion and it's a very pretty soft, almost pinkish, red.

The recipient of these gifts was my friend Denise.  Again, I choose the receiver by the color yarn I was using and since Denise loves red they were destined to be hers.

Who would you love to give a gift to for no particular reason?

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Gratitude Friday and Gift Giving - Hat and Mitts

It's easy to get caught up in our problems and worries as life rushes past us.  To balance this out I like to "count my blessings" as my mother used to say to me as a child.  I now call it my gratitude list, but call it what you want.  So, I'd like to share with you the things I am grateful for this week:

1. My son finding joy and awe in a thunderstorm even when it woke us up at 5:45 a.m.

2. My knitting as it gives me a focus while calming me.

3. My mother (who lives with us) for helping out more on a week when I didn't feel so well.

One of the items that is always on my list is my friends and how they stand by me with my erratic communication skills and tendency towards holing up in my house (with knitting of course.)  They pull me out of my shell and keep me connected to the world which I so need.  To let them know how much I care I like to give gifts.  I don't usually plan it, but for instance I'll have some yarn left over from a project and think "this would make a great coffee cup holder, or fingerless mitts etc." and the color usually directs me to who it should go to.  

This week I gave a Christmas in July gift to my friend Kelly who is also my son's Daycare Provider.  I had almost a full skein of Malabrigo yarn left after making my Elizabeth Zimmermann's Mobius Vest.  The color is called Sunset and I knew right away it was perfect for Kelly.  The hat pattern I chose was Lotus and what a fun quick knit it was to make, but afterwards I still had a fair amount of yarn left.  Hmm...what to do?  Pull out my 75 Yards Malabrigo Fingerless Mitts pattern that's what.  I just made it with less then 12 inches left of yarn upon completion!  Oh how I LOVE using up every little bit of yarn!  Both knitting patterns are free by the way.  Here's how they came out:

My mother modeled that hat with the restriction of not showing her face.  Oh well, she is a sport to stop what she was doing so I could take a photo before I gave them to Kelly.  The hat just covers the tops of the ears.  I did 4 repeats of the pattern, but maybe could have done five.  I made a mistake that corrected itself over a few rows, but it's hard even for me to pick out so I think it's o.k.  The mitts came out just fine as predicted.  When I gave them to Kelly the first words out of her mouth was "I love the color!" which made me smile all the more.  What fun it is to give gifts for no particular reason!  I highly recommend it.  

What is it you are grateful for this week?

New Baby Toys

After I let the month of January and most of February slide by without much notice, I decided it was time to get back to working on items for the shop.  I came up with a few new things for babies, because making things for babies is such fun!  First off I have a new rattle/teething toy.  It is a felted wool ring, in rainbow colors of course, with 5 maple wood rings attached.  It makes a nice quiet rattle sound and provides lots for little fingers and new teeth to explore.  I made one in pastel and one in a bright colored rainbow as who doesn't love a rainbow?

 

Secondly, I have a simple knitted ball stuffed with natural wool.  So far I only have the pastel rainbow, but will be making a bright rainbow as well.

And lastly, I have put these 2 new toys along with a gnome in a packaged gift set.  They come wrapped in a biodegradable cellulose bag  with a piece of tissue paper and a yarn bow.  Again, I only have pastel rainbow at present, but will be coming out with a bright rainbow version as well.  You can currently choose between brown or peach skin for your gnome.  

That's all the news for now.  I'm hoping to make more of a regular appearance on this blog so stay tuned for more.  Have a great week everyone!

Emily's Scarf

You might remember from this post that I was hoping to make my friend Emily a scarf to match her fingerless mitts. Well, I didn't get it done in time for her birthday, but I did finish! The pattern is a free one from Ravelry, but here it is directly for the author's blog. It was very simple and after a few rows you'll have the pattern committed to memory. The only modification I made was to only cast on 12 stitches instead of the 21 asked for in the directions. Emily is a small person and looks better in this type of scarf. Also, I think a skinny scarf can be used in more seasons then just winter don't you think? Here's a few photos below.

Overall it was quite an inexpensive gift using only 1 skein of yarn for BOTH fingerless mitts and scarf. Emily was pleased with the belated gift too! Although her son Eli is concerned her fingers will be cold with the mitts. What projects have you finished lately?