good-natured ribbing

I found a Batman logo, and used KnitPro 2.0 from microRevolt to create the chart. It worked “purrrrrfectly,” as the nephew would say. The yarn is Lamb’s Pride, in Onyx and Lemon Drop, size 6 needles for a dense stocking without felting.

Here is another Christmas present. I’m pretty sure the recipient won’t be looking at the blog, so it should be safe to show the whole thing.

This is the Ribbon Scarf from Handknit Holidays. I don’t think I will never make this or any similar scarf again! To make it, you cast on a bunch of stitches (I did 100), then every couple of rows, M1 in every stitch. I got up to 800 stitches and two long circular needles couldn’t hold anymore. To bind off, I did a M1 into every stitch before the bind off to make sure the edge was nice and stretchy. I was binding off for days!!! 1600 sts!

The scarf is for Gran – I hope she likes it!!

I started this pair a while ago but got distracted with other projects after completing the first mitten. They are now complete and ready to be mailed off to the lucky recipient.

Pattern: Cabled Fingerless
Yarn: Handspun 50% Merino, 50% Mohair (received in the One Skein Exchange)
Needles: Size 5
Modifications: Made them into mittens instead of fingerless. I wanted to cable to continue all the way to the tip, so they are flat, like the toe of a sock.

I love my new mitts! Here are some pictures:

I ordered the alpaca yarn used for these mittense on ebay quite a while ago. It is the stuff that too sooooo long to arrive. I guess it was worth it because the mitts are sooooo soft. The yarn can be seen here (upon arrival) and here (while dying).

The shape of the mittens are based loosely on Hello Yarn’s generic mitten pattern and the stitch patterns came from various books on my shelf. I uses size 3 needles.

First, the double, which was started here:

It’s the double knit hat, made with Cascade 220. Even with no hair, my sweetie’s head is a good 24″, which is considered “extra large” according to most patterns. He must be extra smart. But it’s no wonder I could never make a hat big enough for him when he had hair. He says to tell you, Beth, that this hat is “soft and wearable. ”

The next two hats, intended to be Christmas presents, will look like this, one blue and one red:

They are Beatrice Hats (named for the yarn evidently) designed by Annie Modesitt, found in the Classic Elite Tweed Three pattern book. I ordered the yarn and book to make hats for last Christmas, but somehow never got to it. And what did I do, in spite of reading the pattern? I only purchased 2 balls of yarn per hat, rather than the 3 called for. So, more has been ordered and is on the way, but these are on hold until the fedex man shows up at our door.

Now that I have finished one Christmas gift, I have hope that I can crank through the rest. I have even made significant progress on a second. Here is a sneak peak for you:

You’ll have to wait for Christmas to see what it is (though people with this book may recognize it).

And by they way, I started making something out of the Confetti yarn (pictured here) and, boy, does it suck! It is really hard to knit with and there isn’t much there. For future reference 33 yards isn’t really enough for a little girl’s scarf.

Once I’m done all of this crazy xmas knitting (oh yeah, and all those other half-done projects) my next project will be one of these:

Endpaper Mitts
or
Turkish Delight

…or both.

These were in a catalog I got in the mail today:

$52!!!!!
For 3 tiny little stockings!!!

And they are promoting them as great place holders. I wonder how common it is for Christmas dinners to have only 3 people. You would have to buy 2 sets – for $104!!!!!

In case you are interested in purchasing these little suckers, you can find them at NapaStyle – which seems to be owned by celebrity chef Michael Chiarello. Either that or knit them yourself with some leftover sock yarn in about an hour’s time

Since my last post — a long, long time ago — I’ve acquired a mortgage and an electric garage door opener, my 3-year old neice has started claiming my name is Aunt Kris “Pa-TOHN-kha” (blatantly untrue), I’ve produced an origami Russian MiG-21, and I’ve received two Sock-of-the-Month-Club entries:

September: Jaggerspun 3-ply in a lovely red, cabled patten “There & Back Again” by Laura Anderson, Sirius Knitting (Ack, Harry Potter & Bilbo references at the same time, I’m a little overwhelmed…)
October: Regia 4-ply, pattern “Raspberry Lemonade” by Adrienne Fong

And, did I ever show the socks I made Kira for her birthday?

For those who are interested, it’s time to pre-register for the Rockin’ Sock Club!

I’ve finally finished that lacey scarf I was working on. I am just blocking it now.
It will be a Christmas gift for a lucky family member.

I knit the Falling Water Lace Scarf with Berrocco Ultra Alpaca in a neutral colour.

It is super soft and the scarf is very “plyable” — not stiff. Although the pattern is not reversible, it made a lovely scarf and I am very pleased with my first successful efforts with a lacey scarf. (I only made one mistake…Beth, can you find it???)

As the The Mooninites would say, “What will you do when you’re (pause) COLD AS ICE?” Well, how about some double-knitting?

Although similar in concept to hats Kristen and I made last year, this time I am following the very clear instructions on the blue blog for a double knit hat, creating two layers as I go.

This technique reminds me of carrying out a slip stitch pattern, in that you only use one color per row. And it helps to use two colors so you can distinguish between the rows. It took a couple of rows for me to get the rhythm, and I made one visible mistake (you could say my double vision got the best of me).

This hat is for my sweetie. And why am I interested in an urgent, urgent hat knitting project? Because his head now looks like this!

And now I have a reason to make one of Yarnboy’s Halfdome hats. I guess this would be the place to insert a “head games” joke, but enough of that.

I’ve been planning out my holiday and swap knitting for the past week or so. Today, I completed the first task in my plan – the shopping. I think I managed to buy all the yarn required for all but one gift (7 of 8 knitted gifts). I will show you the yarn, but I can’t tell you how they’ll end up… you never know who might be reading!

This is the entire lot of yarn I purchased today. Close-ups below.

Plymouth Encore Chunky – 75% Acrylic, 25% Wool
3 balls in light brownish-grey

Tahki Yarns Shannon – 100% Wool
2 balls in black/grey

Berroco Ultra Alpaca – 50% Alpaca, 50% Wool
2 skeins in Brown Rice, 1 skein in Fig

Jaeger Chamonix – 48% Angora, 47% Extra Fine Merino, 5% Polyamide
3 balls in Biarritz

Sensations Confetti – 40% Wool, 38% Acrylic, 22% Nylon
2 balls in pinks/purples, 2 balls in blues/greys

It really isn’t THAT much.

Beth’s post just now reminded me that I hadn’t yet posted a picture of my finished scarf, complete with fringe. You may remember that I had only 2 skeins of yarn to begin with, and wasn’t sure I had sufficient for a long-enough scarf and fringe. I heard from Jen, by the way, that she also has been looking for more of this yarn (Martifil Stripe 7934). I’m going back to the yarn store in Toledo where I got it the day after Thanksgiving to see if they have more, but in the meantime I finished and fringed. I realized that since my daughter is only 5′ tall she probably doesn’t need a lot of extra length, and there’s always the Isodora Duncan fate to be wary of. Anyway, the scarf turned out to be quite cushy, and she likes it. BTW, I had never done fringe before, so you may notice some unevenness. It does add to the scarf though.

In other scarf news, I have started a Christmas scarf for my sister (she’s only 4’11″). I was quite taken by the one on the cover of the latest Vogue Knitting, and my sister is partial to red.This pattern calls for knitting 6 long strands which are then woven into a wide scarf. I just happened to have in my stash 6 balls of Rowan Kid Classic in Shade 847 (for those of you who have the shades memorized). Two reasons to be excited: the perfect fit between scarf pattern and recipient, and a chance to use up some of my stash!

I just realized that the tentacle drapped over the magazine makes it look like the model has a long red mustache. Har har. We do have a tendency in our family to deface our magazines. This is how I received my latest Interweave Knits:

Enough with the questionnaires – let’s see some pictures!

I have a couple scarves were started a long time ago. I’ll finish them one day. The purpley one is http://knitty.com/ISSUEspring05/PATTbranchingout.html in my alpaca/merino/silk handspun and the orangey/greeny/browny is Rib Scarf in Malabrigo.

These were previously discussed here and here.

I have also been working on spinning up some of my merino/mohair roving. I have 2 pounds of roving and have spun just over 8oz so far. Once it is all done, I’ll ply them together and end up with 8 fairly large skeins. That’s right, it should be enough for a sweater!

Don’t hold your breath, though. It won’t be a sweater for a long, long time.

Are you allergic to any fibers? No

What are your favorite colors? Earth-tones, like taupe, brown, burnt orangy colors, or sea-tones like blue, gray, muted green.

Are you a new mitt knitter? Yes – I’ve been meaning to start some fingerless mitts (the Fetching pattern from Knitty.com), but I haven’t yet, so I am technically a mitten newbie.

Do you prefer solid or multicolored yarn? I like tweeds, heathers, and multicolored yarns.

What fibers do you prefer in mitten yarn? It can get brutally cold in Michigan, so something warm and protective would be lovely — probably a wool or wool blend of some sort.

Where do you usually knit mittens? I haven’t done so yet, but I typically knit at home, plopped on the couch.

How do you usually carry/store small projects? Often in the bag from the LYS where I bought the yarn.

What are your favorite mitten patterns? I don’t have any favorites, feel free to surprise me.

What are your favorite mitten knitting techniques? I’ve not made any mittens, but a general knitting technique I like is knitting cables. I’ve done some cabled scarves and I’m in the middle of a cable sweater.

What new techniques would you like to try? I’ve not done any color work on past projects, so mittens might be a good little project to get my feet wet on that. I especially like items that have a little skully on them (a skull and crossbones…yes, like a pirate). :-)

What are your favorite needles for knitting mittens? Well, I’m not a big fan of tiny, tiny needles, so if I can use anything above a US 6, that’s fine by me.

What are some of your favorite yarns? Tahki New Tweed, cashmerino of any kind, Rowan’s all season cotton, Noro Blossom and Kureyon.

What yarn do you totally covet? Noro Transitions – so pretty, so expensive.

Any pattern you would love to make if money and time were no object? Probably I would make a long cardigan sweater (like mid-thigh length, sweater-jacket) with some nice cables using either some obscenely expensive cashmere or a soft and subtle hand-painted yarn (ooh, with some silk in it….mmmm).

Favorite kind of needles (brand, materials, straights or circs, etc)? I like bamboo needles best for straight. For circular, I either use bamboo or an Addi turbo.

If you were a specific kind of yarn, which brand and kind of yarn would you be? Well, according to the “What kind of yarn are you” quiz, I’m mohair. But I don’t know about that…I think I’m probably rather tweedy and chunky.

Do you have a favorite candy or mail-able snack? Ooh, no candy — I overdid it at Halloween. Well, maybe a little bit of chocolate would be nice…

What’s your favorite animal? I have many, but I especially like big, fluffy dogs, llamas, tigers, and bears. Ooh, and geckos.

Would you prefer super warm mittens or something more like fingerless mitts? Super-warm mittens…like I said, it’s cold here.

If you were a color what color would you be? Hmm, I don’t know. I’d probably be a Jcrew color, like graphite or java or ivy or ecru…

What is your most inspiring image, flower, or object in nature? Super-vivid pics of frogs, like the ones I have decorating my bathroom.

Do you have a wishlist? I love to read, so my Amazon wish list is about a mile long. And I like big slouchy bags — I’m an over-packer by nature, so even my purse is stuff full of…well, stuff! I’m also a big fan of cuff bracelets in rustic-looking metals. It’s my weakness, really.

Anything else you’d like to share with the group today? Can’t wait to start on some mittens! yay!

Here is my Mitt swap Q&A for my secret pal – who seems to be in Estonia, judging by the email address. How exciting. I can’t wait to get going with my projects!

What are your favorite colors? This is a really hard question for me! Green is generally my favorite color, but when it comes to yarn and knitted items, I have really wide ranging tastes.

Are you a new mitt knitter? How long have you been knitting mittens? I’ve only made a couple pairs of mittens so far. They were all this year.

Do you prefer solid or multicolored yarn? It all depends on the project, but overall, I guess prefer multicolored.

What fibers do you prefer in mitten yarn? Wool, alpaca… anything warm!

Where do you usually knit mittens? Either at home (in the knitting chair) or at work during knitting lunches.

How do you usually carry/store small projects? I have a few different small bags to keep my projects in. I tend to have lots of small projects on the go at once so I need a lot of project bags!

What are your favorite mitten patterns? Gosh, I haven’t made enough to have a favorite. So far, I’ve liked them all!

What are your favorite mitten knitting techniques? See above.

What new techniques would you like to try? I am in the process of making my first two colored/fair isle mittens and really like it. I would really like to try some more of this style. I am also sort of interested in trying gloves.

What are your favorite needles for knitting mittens? Double pointed, bamboo.

What are some of your favorite yarns? There are so may wonderful yarns that I can’t pick favorites. Every time I go to a yarn store, I have a different favorite!

What yarn do you totally covet? 100% cashmere.

Any pattern you would love to make if money and time were no object? No specific pattern, but it would definitely be a long cabled cardigan/sweater.

Favorite kind of needles (brand, materials, straights or circs, etc)? If I can, I prefer to use circulars. I love my Denise interchangeable needles but besides those, I have a strong preference for bamboo. I’ve never used rosewood but would like it.

If you were a specific kind of yarn, which brand and kind of yarn would you be? Tweedy handspun merino.

Do you have a favorite candy or mail-able snack? I love caramels and anything gummi – but not together.

What’s your favorite animal? Anything with spinnable fur!

Would you prefer super warm mittens or something more like fingerless mitts? I would prefer warm mitts over fingerless (I have enough of those).

If you were a color what color would you be? I have no idea. I asked Ava and she said I’d be blue.

What is your most inspiring image, flower, or object in nature? The country side in autumn with colorful leaves on the trees and covering the ground.

Do you have a wishlist? Of course! There are tons of things I want to make (lots of sweaters, socks, bags, etc). And there are a bunch of knitting books I want. There are way too many of these to keep a list of – however, I keep printouts of future projects in my project binder (NERD!). Non-knitting items include lots of shoes… and ice cream :)

Anything else you’d like to share with the group today? I have no fiber allergies. I am really open to a lot of different projects and love to be surprised.

Well I joined the KMKS with Beth and I’m very excited to get going. I’ve already been in contact with both my “pals” — Anonymous Annie will be knitting for me, and I will be knitting for “Shelley”. Anyway, here are my answers to the “get-to-know-you” questionnaire:

Are you allergic to any fibers?
nope

What are your favorite colors?
black, grey, purple, green, orange

Are you a new mitt knitter? How long have you been knitting mittens?
Newbie. Just started 2 months ago.

Do you prefer solid or multicolored yarn?
No preference.

What fibers do you prefer in mitten yarn?
Soft and Warm!

Where do you usually knit mittens?
At work, at home, with friends.

How do you usually carry/store small projects?
Inside the bag the yarn purchase came in, jammed in a tote.
The tote reads: “Will knit for tattoos” ( From Natalie Dee)

What are your favorite mitten patterns?
The ones I “design” myself.

What are your favorite mitten knitting techniques?
I like 4×1 rib, cables, and the afterthought thumb.

What new techniques would you like to try?
Gusset thumb, colour work (knitting with two colours in nordic style or intarsia in the round).

What are your favorite needles for knitting mittens?
Bamboo DPNs (preferrably size 5 or bigger).

What are some of your favorite yarns?
I try new yarn all the time, so they’re all my favourite.

What yarn do you totally covet?
Soft alpacas and cashmeres.

Any pattern you would love to make if money and time were no object?
I would design my own long sweater coat out of baby alpaca. It would have cables and look quite victorian.

Favorite kind of needles (brand, materials, straights or circs, etc)?
I love knitting on circulars, but I don’t know how to do mittens that way (there’s a way to do socks that way, so I’m sure it could translate to mittens). I love bamboo needles (or any kind of wood).

If you were a specific kind of yarn, which brand and kind of yarn would you be?
Probably Noro Koreyon…colourful and irritable.

Do you have a favorite candy or mail-able snack?
I love sour candy. SweeTarts, sour gummies, anything to make my mouth pucker!

What’s your favorite animal?
Liger.
Or if you didn’t see that movie, a cat I guess, because I have one, and he would be very hurt if I didn’t mention him.

Would you prefer super warm mittens or something more like fingerless mitts?
Warm, warm, warm. I broke my hand a year ago, and cold makes it ache!

If you were a color what color would you be?
I might say black. With pink sparkles.

Others might say orange.

What is your most inspiring image, flower, or object in nature?
I love a weeping willow tree and deep, red flowers.

Do you have a wishlist?
My wishlist mostly contains Fluevog shoes, William Blake art, and expensive yarn.

Anything else you’d like to share with the group today
I hold Detroit Pistons season tickets, I am an excellent chess player, and I am a librarian by profession.

I’ve been inspired by the awesomeness of Sherry’s new mittens, by the Knit Mitt Kit Swap I signed up for, and by my freezing little fingers with no mittens to cover them up. So yesterday, I started this:

I sort of used Hello Yarn’s generic mitten pattern. My hands are bigger and my yarn is a different gauge than the patten calls for, so I just used it as a guide. I still need to figure out what kind of design to put at the top of the mitten. Something simple.

Here is another swap I’m going to sign up for: Knit Mitt Kit Swap

You have to knit a fun bag and put the mitten fixin’s inside. Anyone else want to join? Hurry, you have to sign up by Friday.

Just a quick post before I dash off to work…

If only I was any good with Photoshop, I would put this fair maiden in some foreboding wood. She looks so intent on something, perhaps finding her way home to the castle.

This one is much happier – she got a chicken from our next door neighbours.

The costume began as a plain white sleeveless flower girl dress. I added the puffy skirt and the sleeves. Also, I knit the little pink cape to keep her warm on the cold Halloween evening. It is a combination of a few different patterns and uses LionBrand’s Lion Cashmere Blend Tiffany (for the trim).