happy hands

So.Much.Food! My little quilting group held our annual Christmas luncheon yesterday. I am so glad that I wore loose pants. There was a ton of food. We actually ran out of table space and I had to serve the soup from the kitchen. I was so full that I didn't eat supper and had a snack around 9:30pm consisting of a Bakewell tart that was leftover from the party. I brought home cabbage rolls and baked beans, too. Hubby ate all the cabbage rolls (the piggy) and some of the leftover soup. I'm going to tackle the baked beans today.

We also unwrapped our presents to each other which means that I can unveil what I've been working on.


Pattern: Funky Chunky Mitts by Lindsey Williard (Ravelry download)
Yarn: Gedifra Volata Tweed; one skein (50g; 110 yds) per pair
Needles: 5.5mm dpns
Notes: I started knitting in June but ended knitting 9 pairs in the last month. Heh - so much for getting a head start. I am so glad this project is done!

Now that I'm feeling better (thanks for all the get well wishes), baking has begun. It didn't start smoothly. The night before the first batch, I came home and hubby tells me that the oven is broken. He tried heating up a shepherd's pie and it took forever. A quick check of the oven proved that the bottom element wasn't turning on. ACK! Our appliance book (the best $40 we've ever spent) said to check the electrical connections but of course, I loaned my DMM to my Dad and if hubby had called, I would've brought it home with me. Anyways, we assumed that the element was broken and not any of the electrical innards. Hubby ran off to the parts store first thing the next morning and the oven is working again. Yay! The new element gets really hot and we managed to slightly scorch the first batch of cookies. So the rack has been raised and hopefully, things are under control now. We baked 8 doz chocolate cranberry cookies yesterday night and we're baking chocolate meltie cookies today. We're making snickerdoodles tomorrow. I'll be making cookie deliveries all next week.

And just before bed, I managed to kitchener the toe on my Christmas socks.


Pattern: my usual 60 st top down with short row heel; changed colours every 5 rows
Yarn: Diamond Yarn Luxury Collection Foot Loose; 1 sk green and 1 sk multi
Needles: 2.25mm dpns
Notes: Pair number 56! I was going to make these for my sister but I'm keeping them for myself. I love manually striped socks because I get to pick which colours to stripe.

This'll be my last post before the 25th so I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. Ricky and Phoebe would like to add "Meowy Catmas":

burp

Gladys and I are participating in Shawl Wars on Ravelry. Once you receive your death shawl, you are required to post an obituary with at least one picture of the shawl. I had the good fortune to receive a Dover Castle shawl (knit by djduckee) and it was designed by Judy Marples. Lucky me, she's a local. So I contacted her to see if she would help me with my obit pic and she said yes. What did people think of us as they were driving past this:


Clearly, we were slightly insane. But it was so much fun! Judy was a good sport and let me do pretty much anything I wanted. BTW, she brought the knitting-needle-through-the-head prop. She wore it last Halloween.

Both our families came into town for Thanksgiving. My MIL is here for an extended visit and my sis, BIL, nieces, and nephew dogs also dropped by. I missed Thanksgiving with the in-laws because I was babysitting the nieces while my sis & BIL went to her 20 year high school reunion. While they were out, I taught my nieces how to knit. The oldest wasn't really interested but she wanted to try because I was doing it. The youngest really surprised me. I showed her how to hold the needles (she calls them sticks) and wrap the yarn (she calls it string). It only took a few tries for her to accurately execute a knit stitch. When I escorted them to bed, my niece made me promise to knit with her the next day.

When I showed up Sunday morning, my niece immediately pestered me to get out the knitting. She was impatient to get started. She mostly remembered what she needed to do and only needed a few minor corrections. She knit during every spare moment. I was very impressed. I managed to lure her away from the needles when I promised to take her yarn shopping so that she could pick something out to make a scarf. After supper, we knit some more. My sister took a video of us. It's pretty cute.


This is what she made. There are a few "holes" which she told me that she did on purpose. One time, she knit the stitch with the tail instead of the working yarn. Otherwise, it's not too bad for her first piece. I have to work on her tension. She really holds the yarn tightly and you can hear the acrylic squeaking on the needles. It's like nails on a chalkboard.

The boys were downstairs doing this:


Can you spot the two Xboxs? The intense concentration is caused by playing Halo Reach on the Legendary setting.

My nieces loved their Hello Kitty Halloween trick-or-treat bags. I am their favourite Auntie. My sister would point out that I'm their only Auntie.

My sister loves her new fingerless mitts.


Pattern: Fetching by Cheryl Niamath
Yarn: Punta Yarns merisoft Hand Painted Aran; 1 skein (197 yds; 100g) in col HP52
Needles: 4mm dpns
Notes: My sister's hands are tiny! She doesn't even stretch out the ribbing. The cables don't even hug her skinny wrists. If I were to make this again for her, I would leave out one whole pattern repeat (5 sts) to make it fit better.

Dad cooked way too much food (as usual) so I expect to be eating leftovers for many days. And poor hubby has the sniffoos so I should go make him some tea or something. He's shuffling around in his snuggie. Poor baby.

Day 6 and counting

Hello, my name is Dotty and I haven't used the dishwasher in 6 days. I hate washing dishes by hand. It's no fun at all. I called the parts people first thing Mon morning and because I accidentally let a tiny plastic ball go down the drain, I can't reassemble my dishwasher pump until Feb 25th (!!!!!). The repair kit containing the new impeller doesn't include this plastic ball which I have to pay an extra $5 for. I complained to my sister and she suggested that I either use disposable plates/utensils or let the cats lick everything clean. She is no help.

And some good news... After searching for 6 months, we've finally purchased a replacement for hubby's ancient & ailing '93 Jeep. It's a shiny Toyota Highlander complete with all the bells and whistles. Who knew that heated leather seats would become my best friend? And it came with bonus items like an orange crayon, 1.5 goldfish crackers, a bookmark, a 12" plastic ruler, a penny, and something squishy & brown that I could not identify (it looked organic). I got to drive it this week while my Subaru was in the shop. It feels like a cruise ship! Hubby threw his bike in the back today and he didn't even have to turn the front wheel up. Looks like we'll be able to pack the entire house into the back of it when we go camping this summer.


I made a little mitten this week. A friend is making a quilt and she's appliqued mitten shapes to the blocks. One of the colours in the quilt top is this soft green which matches some leftover yarn that I have. I offered to knit a mitten for her to use as a label (or to hold the label) on the back of the quilt. It's really cute!

The sun was out for a little bit and Ricky was doing his solar powered kitty thing.


I think he wants me to skritch his chin.

recipe for warm hands

Ta da! They're done and stored in my car.


Pattern: my own; see below for instructions
Yarn: Knit Picks Imagination; colour Pixie Dust; used 1 skein (50g; 219 yds) with only a few yards leftover
Needles: 2.5mm dpns
Notes: Not a lot of yarn leftover. Perfect project for 50g of fingering yarn.

Since these fit a lot better than my first attempt at sock yarn mittens, I thought that I should write it all down so that I don't forget. The mitten & thumb tip decrease is adapted from the Round Toe in Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks. This results in mittens that can be worn on either hand. As with any sock toe, feel free to substitute your own favourite mitten tip.

These instructions have NOT been test knit! You have been warned.

My gauge: 8 sts/inch on 2.5mm dpns

My mitten's finished size: 10.25" long from bottom of cuff to mitten tip (8" long excluding cuff), 8" diameter, thumb is 2.25" long. If you want to make your mittens larger, you'll need more than one skein (50g) of yarn.

Abbreviations
pm - place marker
sm - slip marker
m1 - make one (increase a stitch using your favourite method)

Cast on 64 sts. Join in the round placing marker to indicate the beg of the round. Knit in 2x2 rib until cuff measures 2.25" long.

Next Rnd: k31, pm, k2, pm, k31

Inc Rnd: k31, sm, m1, k2, m1, sm, k31
Next Rnd: k31, sm, k4, sm, k31
Next Rnd: k31, sm, k4, sm, k31
Inc Rnd: k31, sm, m1, k4, m1, sm, k31
Next Rnd: k31, sm, k6, sm, k31
Next Rnd: k31, sm, k6, sm, k31

Continue increasing one stitch after the first marker and one stitch before the second marker, every 3rd round until there are 22 sts between the two markers.

Next Rnd: k31, remove marker, cast on 2 sts using backward loop cast on, slip the next 22 sts onto some waste yarn, k31

Continue knitting in the round until mitten is 2.5" shorter than the desired length.

Dec Rnd: [k6, k2tog]; repeat til end of round
Next 6 Rnds: knit
Dec Rnd: [k5, k2tog]; repeat til end of round
Next 5 Rnds: knit
Dec Rnd: [k4, k2tog]; repeat til end of round
Next 4 Rnds: knit
Dec Rnd: [k3, k2tog]; repeat til end of round
Next 3 Rnds: knit
Dec Rnd: [k2, k2tog]; repeat til end of round
Next 2 Rnds: knit
Dec Rnd: [k1, k2tog]; repeat til end of round
Next Rnd: knit
Dec Rnd: [k2tog]; repeat til end of round

Cut yarn and draw through the remaining 8 sts. Pull tightly.

Thumb

Place sts on waste yarn back onto your needles. Join yarn to the first stitch. Knit all the way around and pick up and knit 2 sts between the thumb and the palm. Place marker. You should have 24 sts on your needles. Knit in the round until thumb is 0.75" shorter than desired.

Next Rnd: [k2, k2tog]; repeat til end of round
Next 2 Rnds: knit
Next Rnd: [k1, k2tog]; repeat til end of round
Next Rnd: knit
Next Rnd: [k2tog]; repeat til end of round

Cut yarn and draw through the remaining 6 sts. Pull tightly.

Weave in ends, blah blah, block. Show everyone in the house how lovely they look (even the cats).

uncharted territory

I can barely contain my anticipation - my car mittens are almost finished.


I've started the decreases at the top and then I can knit the thumb. It won't be long before I have warm driving hands!

I just got my hands on a new knitting book - Twisted-Stitch Knitting by Maria Erlbacher. I first saw the original publications at last year's Sock Summit. Recently, Schoolhouse Press has combined the three German books into one and translated into English. Yay! So I'm going to whip out some paper and start designing my own sock? Mittens? Or ??? Whatever it is, it has to be knit in the round because there are no "rest" rows. I don't know about you but I want to avoid ptbl as much as possible. I've never designed like this before so bear with me while I screw up (multiple times).


I also pulled out a skein of yarn to swatch with. It's Tess' Designer Yarns Super Socks & Baby. No idea what colour it is. It's a skwooshy yarn so the stitches should pop nicely.

So what do you think is running through Ricky's head when he looks at me like this?


Maybe - "Get that camera outta my face, Mom" or "Just wait til you're asleep" or ???

frozen fingers

Do you ever have the problem where it seems warm enough to go outside without gloves/mittens but then the minute you touch the ice-cold steering wheel, you wish you'd taken the time to grab a pair? That's me. (This will lead somewhere knitting related. I promise.) Over the years, I've gone through 2 super fluffy sheepskin steering wheel covers but they are getting harder to find. The first thing I did when I bought my new car was buy it a steering wheel cover that I thought would protect my fingers but it's not doing a very good job. So every day I go out with warm hands and end up at my destination with frozen fingers. This is not usually a big deal unless I need to knit with them. The last straw was Sunday when I went to teach a class. My hands and fingers were so cold that I couldn't even feel the knitting needles. And then I thought, "I'm a knitter - I can solve this problem."

The idea of knitting a steering wheel cover crossed my mind but hubby drives the car, too. He never liked the sheepskin ones and I'm pretty sure he wouldn't like a knitted one in my car. The next best thing is a pair of mittens that I'll leave in the car just for driving. So I tossed the stash a little and came up with some Knit Picks Imagination in Pixie Dust. I've avoided using this yarn (bought for a stole project) because I discovered awhile ago (after I'd bought it) that alpaca doesn't agree with me. I can't wear it around my neck because it's sooooo itchy. I am hoping that I'll be able to wear the yarn as mittens.


I've put them on a few times and they haven't made my hands/wrists itchy but we'll see what happens after they are washed (as was the case with my alpaca scarf).

It's sunny outside so that means it's also a little chilly. Phoebe's spending a lot of time on her "hotplate" aka heating pad.



PS. Batty - could you please send me your email address? I'd like to reply to one of your comments. Thanks!

brown penguin

Despite my best intentions, the mittens are not done. Hubby's birthday has come & gone and I still have at least half a mitten left to knit.


If you look on the palm of the first mitten, you can see a glaring boo boo. I'll have to duplicate stitch over it because I don't feel like ripping back.


If you decode the left palm, it says, "Hello World!". If you don't understand the significance of the phrase, Wikipedia has an excellent explanation. Hubby picked it, not me. What a geek! When I started the second mitten I decided to encode my own message into the palm. Hee hee!

My MIL returned home late last week so things have been getting back to normal. I finally delivered the Anemoi mittens to their new owner. Sadly, she was asleep with a bad cold so I handed the mittens over to her husband. He put them on and noted that they fit. Hmmm, she'll have to make sure he doesn't steal them!

After I dropped off the mittens, I treated myself to a little yarn therapy. The LYSes really were on the way home!


The red skein is some sort of Fleece Artist/Handmaiden sock yarn. I think it might be sea wool. The two skeins of Kauni are the same colour eventhough they don't look the same. And the big white blob is undyed Dream in Color Smooshy which will probably be used for more fair isle. Can you tell that I'm hooked?

knitting at the speed of sound

(thanks for the title, P-la)



Hubby's bday is this weekend. My MIL is staying with us this week and there's a bunch of family stuff that I need to do. What are the chances that I'll get the mittens done in time? Anyone wanna guess? Bonus points if you can decode what it says on the palm.

PS. 76 sts on 2.5mm needles; mittens will measure approx. 12" from cuff to finger tip

shhh!

Be vewy vewy quiet, I'm swatching.


Yes, the unheard of has happened - I must swatch. This is the pattern but I'm using vastly different yarns and needles. These are for hubby and his hands are big enough to palm a basketball. You can see where this is headed. It was easy to adjust the pattern widthwise but I didn't have a clue what my row gauge would be. Normally, this wouldn't be such a big issue but you see, the palm is in binary. What it spells out has to make sense. Sooo, I need to work out exactly how many rows I've got so that I can figure out how many letters and then I can secretly encode a message into the palm (i.e. my birthday so that he never never ever forgets).

BTW, the Wollmeise arrived. That's Single Malt on the left (to match the Ubuntu heron desktop background) and Cascade Heritage Sock on the left. No need to point out that penguins are not brown and white. Hubby picked the colours - not me.


Ricky, "Wha?!?!"

mittens!

I've finished my very first pair of stranded mittens. I am so proud. Despite a rocky start and a major boo boo, I finally got them done. Not like I had a choice since these are for a swap.


Pattern: Anemoi Mittens by Eunny Jang
Yarn: Harrisville Designs New England Shetland; 1 sk white and 1 sk hyacinth
Needles: 2.25mm Clover bamboo dpns & 2.5mm KnitPicks wooden dpns
Notes: Great pattern. There are a few errors in the pattern that I had to work around. For example, the thumb st distribution should be 8-9-8 and not 7-9-7. The yarn is pretty scratchy but did soften up a fair bit in the wash.


I'm very glad to have these off the needles. I learned a lot about stranded knitting. I can hold both yarns in my right hand at the same time. I tried using both hands but it threw off my tension. I'll defintely make another pair of stranded mittens - as soon as some Wollmeise shows up.

frog

Hint: look just above the top of the thumb.


An entire day's knitting down the toilet...

cuff me

Look - it's more than 9 rounds of knitting.


I knit the last few rounds of the cuff at knit night. The next instruction said to switch to larger needles. Hmmm - I didn't bring the larger needles with me. Doh!

I've been doing a bunch of other knitting - a heel flap and an un-grafted toe. Neither of these are attached to a sock. They're for a sock knitting class that I'll be teaching in Aug. I've been getting my samples knit for the class and getting my notes typed up.

Gladys (Queen of the pooling stoles) managed to snag me some Wollmeise yarn.


It's fingering in the colour Arlene. Isn't it great? I fell in love with it the minute I saw it. I have a plan for for the yarn but it's a secret :)

My sister and the nieces came by the house yesterday afternoon. The girls didn't want to leave so my sister left without them. Eeek! We spent the afternoon playing in the backyard - they went crazy with the sidewalk chalk, bubble blowing stuff, a horseshoe set, and some Winnie the Pooh parachute toys.


I fed them supper and we watched the Little Mermaid while we waited for Uncle to come home from work. The movie finished so we took Ricky for a walk. The little one complained that Ricky is slow. LOL!

They wanted to stay overnight but I decided to drive them back to my Dad's place. Hubby needed time to get organized and packed. He and Tony (plus many others from their cycling club) will be joining thousands of other cyclists as they ride from Seattle to Portland this weekend. I hope they have fun!

applause, applause

A round of applause! Not only did Gladys blog, she showed us a whopper of a FO. I've seen this stole in person and it is stunning. The photography doesn't do it justice. Yay, Gladys!


I was out in the garden today - lots of deadheading and weeding. I was hoping to get more accomplished but hubby only left me one (out of 6) recycling bin. The others are full of grass. So I filled up my one and I'll have to wait until garbage day (tomorrow) before I can do more weeding. Later this year, the city is moving to automated pick up. We had to special order new bins to use with the system. I chose the largest yard waste bin and paid for an extra one. I'm going to put my name on one and hubby won't be allowed to use it.

Our heat wave broke and I've been able to do a little knitting. I finished my first Kool Aid sock:


In order to make it fit my *ahem* shapely calves, I gradually increased the needle size. I really wanted to use up all the yarn but I didn't want knee socks either so I stopped when I got bored.

Yesterday, I gathered up all my crochet supplies and headed into work to teach my beginners crochet class. Well, the class was cancelled and I was emailed but the message was sent to an email account that I no longer use (because the last 2 times they've switched servers, they lost my entire inbox twice and it still hasn't been restored - so much for backups). So I did a little shoppping and bought some Harrisville Shetland to make Anemoi mittens.


The mittens aren't for me. They're part of a Ravelry swap. And I didn't feel like turning around and going home so I sat around, chatted with Helen (LYSO), and knit on my frankensock (aka sample for my sock class):


Every time I move to a new part of the sock, I switch colours so there's a lot of ends to weave in.

I bought Ricky a doggie harness and he's been getting out for walks a little more now that I don't choke him when I pull on the leash. I bought the smallest size and I had to let out the chest loop all the way. What can I say? Ricky's a big kitty. It's a little tricky to put on because the neck loop has to go over his head but he doesn't mind because it means he gets to go outside!


Ricky looks funny because he's busy sniffing the air.

something for everyone

It's good to be knitting again after that frenzy of hand quilting. My back/shoulder/arm is feeling less crampy because I'm no longer hunched over a quilting hoop.

I've been knitting Christmas presents. I present exhibit A:


I'm using the great yarn that I bought in Whistler. The stuff is smooth and soft and the colours are great. The pattern is written for 2 circs but I'm not fond of that technique. The wandering cables prevent me from using dpns so I've had to magic loop it. I think I've permanently kinked my Addi cable in a coupla places.

Here is exhibit B:


I originally thought that I would get these done in time for hubby's birthday (3 weeks from today). Not a chance so these'll become Christmas socks. My brain got all screwed up on knit nite trying to turn the heel. The heel flap has 40 sts rather than my usual 32 and I just couldn't do the math for some reason. When I woke up the next day, the correct equation hit me. Doh! I blame it on the frenzied yarn buying that was happening around me. Some Blackberry Ridge silk/wool lace made it into the sale bins and there was a mass exodus to the back of the store once that piece of news leaked out. I stayed strong and didn't buy any.

I've knit a few rows on Starsky:


I was hoping to be further along on this project as it's the perfect weather to be wearing something like this. I was knitting this at my parents' house and Mom complained that the yarn was shedding all over her couch.

I finished knitting the roses for Bea. But I forgot to take a picture before I mailed them to her this morning. I managed to get 5 roses from the ball of pink yarn I found in my stash. I hope she likes the colour.

A little yarn arrived on my doorstep this week...


Gladys and I did an order together. She bought yarn to make more Pokeball hats plus a few skeins of the new Imagination sock yarn. I got some Imagination sock yarn, too but I'm disappointed with the colours. In other pics, the blue is more blue and the brown is more brown. My skeins are more muted and there's quite a bit of green that I didn't expect. The 4 skeins of Swish will become a R2D2 hat for a friend. I was going to make hubby one, too but he changed his mind (probably because he laid claim to that skein of Malabrigo sock that I brought home the other week).

Speaking of R2D2, I've noticed a number of new geek-oriented patterns on Ravelry. For example: Captain Capacitor, Resisty the Resistor, and Tux mittens. Hubby is definitely getting a pair of Tux mittens but not until he wears out the current pair. I was an electrical engineering student way back when, so I want to make the capacitor and the resistor for myself. Maybe that's too geeky. Hmmmm...

catching up

I am feeling a whole lot better today. I've washed the floors, cleaned out the family room (you should've seen all the yarn I had to put away from my recent purchases - eek!), processed 2 loads of laundry, and did a few knitterly things.

Remember the Peapod baby set and booties that I was knitting? They've been sitting in the WIP pile because I've been too lazy to sew the buttons on. So I did that this morning...


Awwwwwww! They're so cute.

Yesterday night (lounging in bed while hubby was at a baby shower), I knitted up the gusset for the Brea bag.


I managed to knit the gusset to both sides so that I didn't have to seam it afterwards. It worked out well. I did not do the gusset increases because I thought it would make the bag too wide. I have a bajillion ends to weave in and then I need to do something about the lining, zipper, and shoulder strap.

And here is my current mindless knitting project:


Iris commissioned me to make her some fingerless mitts. She gave me 4 skeins of Patons Kroy (in Tutti Frutti) a few weeks ago (I was hoping for some plain yarn so that I could do something cable-y - oh well). They're a plain 3x1 rib and I plan to do an afterthought thumb.

I've also been working on some swatches for a Jean Wong finishing class in April. I need 11 swatches and I knit 5 yesterday night.

According to Ravelry, I have 17 WIPs. I started the year at 16. Obviously, I'm starting projects faster than I'm finishing them. Ugh!

sock yarn mittens

Pattern: made up but it's basically ribbing, your standard thumb gusset, and a round toe (a la Nancy Bush - pg 20 in Knitting Vintage Socks)
Yarn: Trekking XXL colour 126
Needles: 2.5mm Harmony dpns for the left; 2.5mm metal dpns for the right
Notes: The left mitten is slightly larger than the right one. Mittens weigh 50g so I have enough leftover yarn to make another pair.

Last year, I made mittens for hubby out of some sock yarn and he says they're perfect so I made myself a pair. They took awhile to finish because I was so disappointed after the fat thumb incident. When you're sick, you only want to knit plain stuff so it was the perfect opportunity to finish them.

Thanks for all your get well wishes. I was feeling better but then I got worse. I'm still really tired and icky feeling. I had a 3 hour snooze yesterday afternoon and I still went to bed on time. I've been catching up on a lot of DVD watching - Due South, Love Actually (almost pee'd my pants laughing), Doctor Who (season 3 of the new series), and ST Enterprise. I'm pretty sure we're going to max out our DVD subscription this month.

zipped lips

Oh oh oh! Something very special arrived a few days ago and I want to tell you what it is. But if I do, Gladys will know what I got her for her birthday (next week). It's soooo soft and smooshy and pretty. It's going to be hard to give away.

The Nutkin sock got frogged. The colours were pooling horribly. I cast on more sts than the pattern instructed so the knitting gods decided to smite me. I did measure the sock before I frogged it and I'm pretty sure that the sock would've been too narrow for my foot. So now I'm looking for a new pattern with a 64 st cast on. The Embossed Leaves sock is catching my eye...

While the Sweetgeorgia yarn was in temporary timeout, I hauled out hubby's Valentine's sock and finished it.


I'm pretty sure that I won't get the second sock finished by tomorrow. I'll just wrap the one sock with an IOU for the second sock. Speaking of wrapping, I need to wrap his other gifts as well. We said that we wouldn't do gifts this year - just cards and a nice dinner out (Memphis Blues!!!!!). But I couldn't resist a few items that I saw while shopping last week. Hee hee!

After I finished the sock, I also frogged my mitten back to the gusset.


I think the gusset's too short now. Humph! I am not frogging it again. It'll have to block out.

I am surprised that I've managed to get this much knitting done. On the weekend, I got a huge wood sliver deep into the inside of my left pinkie finger. I couldn't get it out but it was only mildly annoying while knitting. Yesterday night, it was really bugging me and when I looked, it was quite puffy and white like it was infected. Not good. The sliver had to come out. It was painful but I dug it out and this morning, my pinkie looks much better.

The bird feeder's been put away but the birdies are still visiting. Yesterday morning, I swear this steller's jay was yelling at us to put it back. It was perched on the gutter just a few feet away from the kitchen window and screaming. Phoebe was eating breakfast on the window shelf and she stopped eating to watch the jay. It flew over to the shepherd's hook where the feeder usually hangs so I'm pretty sure it was telling us that it wanted breakfast. That's some crazy wildlife!

still fat

This is what happens when I "wing it" or "make it up as I go along":


You get a mitten where the gusset's too deep and the thumb's fat. I decreased 4 sts at the base of the thumb and it's still too big. The thumb also looks stupid because it's so short (and fat). I like the decrease method for the top of the mitten - round sock toe from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush. I'm frogging this one and reknitting it.

I didn't have any further problems with my Harmony dpns. I have 2 other sets that I'm going to pull out and check before I contact KP. I really liked using them for the mittens because they were sticky enough that they didn't fall out when I was down to 8 sts on the thumb. I was also surprised to find that the shorter length didn't bother me that much.

Not much else on the knitting front... Just working on my WIP list. Every once in awhile, I pick up the Juno Regina stole and knit a few rows. I'm almost at the halfway point. I turned the heel on some commission socks. I hope to finish them off this week. I cast on the second Endpaper Mitt. I am fighting the urge to cast on for Imogen. I have the yarn/needles and I've already washed/dried/measured my swatch. Must Concentrate On WIPs.

Hubby and I went to the farmers' market this morning. We bought some bread (walnut rye and garlic cheese) and I wanted to buy some purple potatoes but the vendor wasn't there today. Then we went to the big store and did a bit more grocery shopping. I'm making wontons tonite. When we got home, I sat down to hand peel a huge bag of fresh water chestnuts (for the wontons). It took me almost an hour and my hands are completely cramped but it is soooo worth it to have fresh water chestnuts.

Off to do something useful... Laundry? Supervise/annoy hubby while he assembles our new computer? Nap? That last one sounds good.

unimpressed

After knitting half a mitten, one of my Harmony dpns snags:


I wonder if they give you 6 needles because they know that there'll be one dpn that's defective. Humph! Pictures of the mitten to follow after I fix the "fat" thumb.

Meowy Christmas!

I finished the puppet mittens today.


Pattern: Puppet mittens from a vintage pamphlet
Yarn: Rowan Pure Wool DK
Needles: 3.5mm Addi Turbo circs
Mods: I chose to knit the pinkie and thumb in a solid colour rather than continuing the stripes. I added an i-cord so there's less chance for the mittens to go MIA.

I need to wrap them and then I'll be officially ready for Christmas.

Instead of casting on the second purple Trekking sock, I cast on for Juno Regina instead.


I have almost finished the last repeat of chart 3. So far, so good. Just a few more rows and I'll be onto the easy part.

The cats and I would like to wish everyone a Meowy Christmas (please ignore the disgusted look on Ricky's face. He was having fun during the photo shoot - really!)