Gust
pattern: Anne Hanson of Knitspot
yarn: Arequipa from Ball and Skein in "storm"
needles: Knitpicks #4
It was a very dark day. Too dark and too rainy for much in the way of pictures. This little scarf is as light as its name. A fast knit, easily memorized. I added 6 pattern repeats to mine.
Rarely have I had to use the crochet chain provisional cast on. Now, it is one of my new "best friends". The Ice Queen pattern requires the knitter to go back and pick up the originally cast on live stitches to do the ENDLESS.BEADED.PICOT.BIND OFF. No kidding, I counted 65 beaded little bumps and I'm still going. Very pretty, very, very shiny. Perfect magpie entertainment. Pictures of that will come another day. This post is about the cast on, or rather the release of the live stitches from the cast on. SO SLICK!
See the little blue stitches in the center of the green chain? They are just sitting there waiting to be released.
and finally....
I don't know why I have tried to avoid this method. There were times when my stitches didn't release well and I had to cut the chain away. It soured me. This time I used a bigger yarn for the chain. Slick. I can see using it for times when I don't want to commit to say a hem vs a ribbed bottom, or top of a sock or....
Remember the Crest of the Wave Shawl that I made a month or so ago?
Quite a few people asked for the pattern. It is a very easy, very repetitive, and I love it. Yesterday, I finally got around to writing it down. If you check the left side bar, you'll find a new list: Patterns. Just click. The file is a pdf. It's free. Have fun. I didn't include instructions for the fringe. You can always figure some interesting embellishment if you like that sort of thing (being a magpie, I have to have a bit of shine , maybe you do to). If you do decide to make it, I'd love to see your version.
Tomorrow the take downs start. You know the old adage "what goes up must come down"... so it is with holiday displays. It fits right in this time of year with another about death and taxes. I know I promised pictures, but instead of taking pictures while the light was good, I went out shopping. Err.... since I didn't buy maybe not shopping, but looking for a new sofa. The one in the den has seen decades of (in)action, dinners (a whole lot of food and drink up close and personal) and been Zak's and many of his predecessors favorite nap spots. Not for the first time, I came home empty handed. I can't figure out how we got the one through the door that's there. Now, everything is over sized, over stuffed and my house and hallway remain the smallish size of past taste. Visions of hoists and chain saws keep flashing by, maybe a slipcover?
Princess Mitts designed by Jennifer Hagan
Yarn: Handspun 2 ply in a dk wt.
Needles: Knitpicks Harmony, sizes 7 & 3. I love these needles!
Note: I started with 350 yds. of handspun. I made the Gretel Slouch Hat and these mitts and have loads leftover. I did modify the pattern slightly but nothing to change the looks of them.
I finished the mitts last night. Good thing, too. I have so many things to do in the next few days.
This morning I finally started my baking. Sort of. I've got these nice little packages of cookie dough ready to slice and bake, two each Cashew Butter Cookies and Dark Chocolate Chip Shortbread. The Apricot Macadamia Nut Snow Balls are chilling. Before I finished last night I got a batch of candied pecans ready for mailing out today.
C has asked for the little rolled tea balls. I'll have to pick up another pound of butter. Whew... this is really the only time of year that I go through this much flour and butter. All the cookies I bake use very little sugar. In everything so far, including the candied nuts, I've used only one cup of sugar, 3/4 of it dark brown. It is hard to keep the low carb thing going during holidays. Keeps me big on nut based treats. I can always tell when I've cheated too much.
The snow and cold have given me the opportunity to start wearing my new toasty Danskos. These were instantly comfortable, rare for me. I feel like a kid with new boots, these are clogs, but I want to kick at the snow, and look at my feet.
Yesterday, I finally made it up the ladder to the attic to retrieve one box of Christmas decorations. Passing house after house on my way home from wherever, after dark, I can see that I am late, very late, in getting my own holiday cheer set up. I wanted my Christmas cups. Funny the little triggers, huh? At home we call the little things that we use year after year to decorate, tradition. At work, putting the same old display up in the same restaurant or office, the same old drudge, has no spirit at all. I thought about this as I went from place to place this year. Hang the balls from this ceiling just so, put poinsettias on the right corner of each desk, unpack the same dusty gold balls that the 16th floor has used for the last 15 years on each of the last three trees. Strange that the artificial trees don't last as long as the balls. That part is work. But unpacking and holding a hot cup of coffee in my Christmas cup, well.... I love it. Makes me want to get lights on the wreaths, cookies in the oven. And so I have, the wreath part, that is.
The mitts are nearly finished. I love them. They'll be done this evening. I have a date with the television at 3pm this afternoon. I never watch daytime TV. Maybe a bit of Oprah while I'm working on dinner if I start early enough, but never in the middle of the afternoon. Today, is special. We got a call last night. Ellen, (you know Ellen, right?) will display a picture on her show today of our very grown up daughter taken when she was three, screaming on Santa's lap. That's at the beginning, during the first scene (or is it act). Later, in Act 5, a costume our E designed will be worn by... well... we'll see who is wearing it today, another surprise.
I hadn't thought about it until I saw this photo, but it would have been nice to reverse the cables. Oh well, I'll keep my hands moving when I wear them. No one will notice.
Time to put on water for tea, thee o'clock is coming up quick.
Just in time for winter, I've got a new hat. Gretel is a fun knit. The changing twists and cables kept things interesting, the smallish sized project kept it a quick knit. I went for the slouchy version.
Gretel, by Isolde Teague
Needles: Knitpicks Harmony circs, #5, #7 with a 16" and 32" cord. I love these needles. Nothing else I have even comes close. They are so smooth and the points, lovely and sharp. I used them "magic loop".
Yarn: my own 2 ply handspun from roving bought at last year's Gathering from Spinner's Hill. I'm guessing that I used about 225yds. Maybe less, the ball still looks pretty big.
Sizing.... I have a very small head. I may have to put a bit of elastic thread into the ribbing to snug it up. It tends to slip over one eye while I shovel, every now and then.
before the storm, I got one shot
tonight she looks like this..
Maybe tomorrow I'll get some glam shots. For now, she's a working girl.
Now, for the mitts.
Even after years of posting, it is surprisingly hard to pick up and post after weeks away. Not "away", I was here, but away from blogging. You know.. Where to start. Tomorrow is the last early morning poinsettia delivery here. I am SO happy. After weeks of nonstop holiday decorating, bows, poinsettias, trees and deliveries, it'll be good to have a normal schedule again. My hands barely work. I want to weight them down, pressed flat against the bedsheets while I sleep to keep them from curling into tight claws during the night. It has impacted my knitting time. As my reward each night, I spent time with Clapotis. She's finished. I wore her last weekend, unwashed and not blocked. It was cold enough. Finally soaked, I hung her over a curtain rod in the furnace room to dry.
As soon as I finished with Clapotis, I measured and wound into a ball, a skein of handspun. There were 450 yds., more than enough for Gretel and a pair of mitts.
Gretel keeps my attention.
The trees are bare, leaves down and settled now onto the woods floor. Light comes through the bare bones of the canopy. This is the way I love the forest. Open. Quiet. Linear. Even the cats are settling in for the season. Instead of spending their days hunting, they are seeking out the warm, cozy spots. Zak is taking over my chair. I try to get him to share. No. He's an all or nothing kind of guy. When I push him over he leaves to find the next good spot.
Even in the house, my hands feel the cold coming in. I'm working on some halfmits to match the Tashi Crest of the Wave scarf. It's slow, knit a bit, change my mind, rip back. There will be a right and a left. No pattern on the palm.
I managed to fit in a little bit of a walk today. The color is nearly gone. But, what's left is brighter for the comparison.
When I dyed the yarn for the Cresting Waves Scarf, I also dyed some of my sock yarn in the same "atlantic" colorway. I had thought that I'd make some wristers to match. After thinking about the pattern a bit, I decided I wanted it to be a bit more solid, and I wanted a place to add the thumb, and a solid stockinette for the palm. This will create a left and a right mitt, but that shouldn't be a problem. Last Friday, while riding the train home, I cast on.
I haven't gotten far. As I've worked out the stitch, I've had to rip back, rip out and start over and generally punt as I thought about it. Another project also went onto the needles a day or so later. It is the Hourglass Pullover from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. Kelly was wearing hers the first time I met her, and it has stuck in my mind as a must knit. All stockinette, knit on circular needles, it is a perfect knit for watching TV or taking to meetings.
It calls for a turned under hem, to be sewn in after the fact. I'm a little nervous about it. Hems often have a way of flipping up or just plain making a thick band around the bottom. I decided to alter the pattern and make a picot edge. Then, I basted the hem and started to stitch it, first separating the plies in my sewing yarn to a half thickness in hopes of less bulk.
My fingers are crossed. (I think I have a "thing" going with this color.. it's got me everywhere I turn.)
Getting back up and running after a fiber festival as stimulating as Rhinebeck is hard work. Really. Just read all the entries or rather posts on re-entry out there. It's Wednesday already and I am still exhausted, still playing catch up and still thinking about the Rhinebeck experience.
There are two finished objects. The sweater was seamed Saturday night during a great pizza and beer gathering in Carole's suite. I have only steamed it. Comments on the pattern: I like the sweater, it will be great to wear and was a fun knit. It wasn't written particularly well. You sort of had to follow your nose and hope for the best. It is a bit full at the underarm. I won't change it, at least not until I've wet blocked it and worn it to break it in. I did add a bit of shaping to the waist area. Here's the shot in the bathroom mirror. Maybe I need another cup of coffee...
Pattern: Taconic V-Neck
Needles: Knit Picks circs: 5,6,7 ( the metal tips)
Yarn: Shetland handspun, 2 ply, approx. 1000 yds. Spun on my Dixon wheel.
The other finished project, again in the bathroom mirror is the Crest of the Wave Scarf.
Pattern: my own
Yarn: Tashi, from Ball and Skein, 2 skeins, "Atlantic" colorway
Beads: had them around
Needles: Knitpicks #8 (again the wood)
A quick note:
When I left last week for Rhinebeck, Ball and Skein was unable to take PayPal. It was working when I went to bed last Wednesday, and not working when I went to my computer first thing Thursday morning. I am still trying to find the problem. I've spent the last couple days speaking (and trying to be pleasant, upbeat and not the sobbing mess I'm starting to become) to the tech support at my webhost, PayPal and the forum for Zencart. TANGLED MESS! Please be patient, if you want to place an order, email it to me. I will then send you a PayPal invoice and you can pay it directly from your account. It works fine, just not the way it is supposed to.
