Sunday, December 16, 2007

Hot Waffles

LinkThis is Knitspot's newest pattern, and it whipped up in a jiffy! I used Mission Falls, and modified the earband by reducing it to 2" and also knitted the hat to 5" before starting the decreases. I vowed there would be no Christmas knitting this year, but this is going in my daughter's stocking. The matching fingerless mitts might not make it before Christmas!
Sunday, December 02, 2007

Don't let the name fool you

I decided I had to start that little scarf. It was easy-going, yet elegant and I had a skein of Briar Rose grandma's blessing (thank you again, Karen) that I have been saving for just the right thing. That little scarf was going to get wipped up in no time flat. Um, well, not so much.

I have cast-on, knit, and ripped, repeating the process at leas 10 times. I think I could have the entire scarf finished by now. This is one of those patterns I can't seem to anticipate, and tinking back, is nearly impossible (for me . . . perhaps you'll have better luck). I have to give this little scarf my full attention while I knit. Ann said, that she knit this little thing on her commute to work a few years back---I can't even seem to get going while sitting in a quiet room. That little scarf is not so little a project!

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Tuesday, November 27, 2007

A pair, an almost pair, and one with a mate to come

When the kids request a knitted items from me, I stop everything I am doing, and get right on it! And this was no exception. The boys wanted hats to match their sports team's warm-ups, so I cast-on for BOTH--and knitted them at the same time!
They are exactly the same . . . but the grey one is too big for the 15 year old; but the other one fits my 10 year old perfectly. Hmmmmmmmmm.
Then there was mitts:



Excuse the yucky photo, but these cranberry cedars, are beautiful . . . and see that little tail of a string? Yes, that would be what's left of the skein with 2 rows an a bind off remaining for the pattern. Waaaaaaaaaaaa. I cannot even believe it. I guess I'll be ordering more yarn.

And let's continue on my Knitspot love-fest. I cast-on and finished the first fine cable mitt

This mitt is so simple, and elegant, I am in love with it!

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Sunday, November 18, 2007

Mitts and Cables

The Snow on Cedars mitts were finished, soaked. blocked, dryed and worn to a soccer game and all around New York City the first Saturday in November!


I was going for an old, worn vintage-kind-a look when I chose the regia tweed for the pattern and it worked out perfectly. They were warm and cozy, and I loved looking down at my wrist and seeing the little cedar tree!

Since my husband was tied up in a business meeting for the afternoon, I made my way to Soho’s Purl. It is a tiny little place filled with oodles of yarn and knitters!!! I could have spent the entire afternoon, and walked away with the whole shop! But I decided to not go crazy so I walked away with just 2 skeins: Koigu KPM (#1184) in what I would like to call cranberry pink and a skein of lorna’s lace that will stripe orange/white. And then, I cast-on with the cranberry . . . another pair of cedar mitts!


Now . . . Let’s talk Cables
After several arguements with the Cable Luxe Tunic over picking up stitches, we finally came to an agreement, and I picked up the appropriate number of stitches, and cabling was underway!

I knit the first 12 rows of the front AND back, joining them after all the initial side increases were made. Now I am knitting in the round, which will eliminate side seaming! I remind myself how worth it this is, considering it feels like forever as I cable around the entire sweater!!!!

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Monday, October 29, 2007

It’s Fall

Finally. After several warm days, and last Friday filled with rain, the weekend morphed into sunny and cool--exactly the way it should be in Pennsylvania at this point in the year. In fact the kids were complaining about the lack of hats and mittens as they waited for the bus this morning (their mom’s a knitter . . . no mittens??).

Besides trick-or-treat, a house full of guests, soccer game, and other weekend distractions, I still managed to sneak some knitting in AND feel somewhat accomplished. Need I remind you, my new goal is to knit what I love and remain focused . . . no more than 3 projects:

Behold my cable adventure: the yoke and neckline completed in less than a week:


And then, as if I am not loving Anne Hanson enough with the Autumn Throw (on the 4th of 5 repeats, definitely on the downside), I snapped up her newest mitt pattern, snow on cedars. Okay, this is fabulous. While the kit has some wonderful yarn to match the pattern, I decided that stash yarn was a more economical route. So I decided to knit these in the Regia Tweed---


I think I am kidding myself by thinking I could have these finished before a quick trip to NYC on Sunday, but it is definitely worth thinking about.

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Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Oh My darling . . . one last time

Two summers ago (yes, that would be 2006), I was smitten with the Granny Smith Cardigan. SO much so, that I ran to the crazy knitting shop (that has yarn dating back to 1904) and picked up some mohair blend yarn so I could cast-on immediately. Well, the orange seemed like a good idea at the moment, and it reminded me of the clementines sitting in the crate in our kitchen.

So home I trotted, to knit this beautiful thing . . . I finished the back, fronts, and two sleeves: all I had to do was sew it together (a job I loathe) and knit the buttonbands and I'd be sporting it when the weather turned chilly. Somehow between that time and now, the cardi got shelved. I yanked it out this afternoon, and started to sew a sleeve in, figuring I could fix up these bands over the weeekend and at least sport it by the 31st . . .


So that was today's act of craziness. The entire week's obsession has been this:

No doubt you have seen this everywhere--the Lion Brand knock-off of the gorgeous Pringle sweater. I am up to 40" of that cabled yoke . . .
Sunday, October 21, 2007

Knitting Monogamy

It is amazing how much you can get finished when you're only working on one project:


Totally Autumn

I am humming right along, finding myself thinking about how many of these I might be able to finish before Christmas!!! But then I got a hold of myself . . . let's just enjoy the moment: the moment where I love the pattern, even on the 4th repeat of 36 rows; the moment where I love the yarn, and I am not worried about whether I have enough to finish the project; the moment where I love that I can see all the leaves, even without washing and blocking; the moment where I am NOT worried if it will fit, because, it will. This is a good knitting moment . . .

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