February: chapter 1

February is Chpt 1, Draft 1, Thesis month for me, so, less knitting more reading. But there are a few things that have yet to go up into Blogland.

1. I finished my Sydney socks. The construction is really interesting, the pattern is good, but they don't fit. I haven't got particularly high arches, but I couldn't get the socks over my heels, nor could the first friend I offered them to (though I did eventually find someone they fit). All a bit disappointing.

2. Mittens. I test knit the Ice Wine Mittens by Em (of Not Another Knit Blog). Great pattern, with amazing charts. The mittens are quite long, giving you lots of space for design and a really great long gauntlet for keeping the snow off your arms if it gets under your sleeve and keeping wrists warm.

3. I've been kind of click happy over on the Loopy Ewe over the last little while. I ordered the Wollmeise, and then a medium wooden sock blocker and a skein of Duet's Skinny (which came today) and then I signed up for the Mystic Lights KAL and realized I have a skein of Fleece Artist 2/6 Merino and so... I ordered another one and another sock blocker... (so I'll have two...)

4. I've started my mother's birthday shawl (and already managed to screw up the bead row - though not enough to go back and take it out, I'll just repeat the screw up at the other end of the shawl and no one will know.... right....). I'm enjoying it and the yarn is a really nice colour, despite the fact that it is shedding worse than a long haired cat.

5. I'm currently a level 41 Barbarian over on KnitWars...

Mittens and 5 things...

I finished the mittens for my sister. They were a huge pain in the ass (well, hands actually). I had ordered yarn in appropriate shades of pink/purple of Knit Picks Wool of the Andes, worsted, and wanted to knit her Norwegian style mitts (originally from the mitten shaped mitten book... title escapes me, book burried somewhere, but ultimately from the Generic Mitten Pattern). The problem was the only pattern I had was for adults, so I sized it - way down- based on some measurements, and they were WAY too small, so I frogged, changed needles sizes, and did it again, also WAY too small. So I gave up and worked an adult sized pattern on teeny-tiny needles (2.5mm). The restul is a pair of decent looking, well fitting, bullet proof mittens on which I intend to blame any future arthiritis in my hands.

I've started a pair for my youngest brother, these with Telemark, I'm planning to make them the same (but not inverted) and am hoping the difference in yarn weight will make up any sizing difference... (yeah, right...).

Said youngest brother with yarn for mittens.

Today my Cro-hook came! I am soo excited, I want to run right out and order me a fair isle project. But I will wait... must finish Christmas knitting and knit at least one of the tops I have the yarn for first...

As per the Hand-dyed Yarn Swap...

(5 favourite things - in no particular order)

1. naps

2. late 1960s American muscle cars

3. hanging out with friends, esp. when my bar is invovled

4. North American Football

5. good Tiramisu

(honourable mention to: bubble baths, fire, snow, rum, milk chocolate, action movies, and red lipstick)

Done!!

The shawl - the purple monster- is done, blocked, and nicely wrapped in tissue paper and stored away for Christmas wrapping. I finished knitting it on Thursday and blocked it Thursday night (I left it soaking while I chatted on the phone... there was no water left in the sink when I got back!! NTS- wool is absorbant, if you don't want to be wringing water out of lace for hours don't abandon it in the sink....). I had to fold it in half to block it and then it only just fit on the towel/foam mats combo that I wanted to use.

Yesterday I started on my mitten blitz. I'm doing three pairs for my sibs - not really that big of a deal. But naturally I decided to try stranded colour work (which I rarely do and never do well) and that I wanted to do Norwegian style stars on them. Unfortunately the only patterns I have are for adults (one pair is for a 7 year old girl and one for a 3 year old boy - adult sizes not so much). So generic mitten pattern to the rescue... sort of... I used the template to create a scaled down template in excel and then did the design on that. Then I tried knitting it, first version too small... even for Bertie, so I frogged back to the ribbing and knit again using larger needles, which seems to have worked.

Last night, for some variety, I cast on the tea-cozy. The pattern was great, very easy, and I finished it last night before I went to bed. I really liked the picot hem, I've never done a hem before but this was easy and very smart looking. I think I may modify the pattern in future to make a toque.

Today, more mittens, and maybe working on the socks. Phineas is going slow, the needles are tiny!! So I've been leaving it to the side in favour of projects with greater instant gratification potential. I'm thinking maybe I'll cast on the Hedera for mom....

In my last KP order (which I was waiting for for my mitten yarn and sock needles) I also got the set of metal options. I have loved them, I actually knit the tea cozy on two cables and one set of 5mm tips (I had to switch tips at the end of each half row, but it worked really well anyway). I'm going to have to get more tips (and some doubles I think) and more storage and cables.... (obsessive compulsive much ....) I also got the Teach Yourself Visually Handspinning book. I really like it, though to my mind there is too much attention devoted to spinning novelty yarn. I'd have liked more space given to non-wool fibers (like bamboo), though I did like the sections on flax and silk, and to the properties of different fibers in general. The result has been, the plying of two spindles of singles that I had and pricing spinning wheels. Oh, how I want a Kromski Symphony...

*pout* My connection is being stupid so I can't upload pictures right now...