Slow Progress

Ok, so the rest of the aran yarn is in hiding.... And I made a mistake on the top row. This mitten definitely needs to be lined, as the stranded yarn doesn't feel good. Besides the mitt would be warmer in the end.

Stranded Mitten Progress

I have got to say the best part about doing smaller projects is that you see the results of your experiments a lot more quickly. :)

A Small Holiday Drawback...

Whenever there is a holiday, the contents of my craft stash get put back into the closet. This means of course, that whatever yarn I didn't think I wanted to use in the near future somehow triggers a subconscious alarm, "you must try..." So that counter to common sense when company is coming, I found myself digging in my closet trying to find the right yarn.

I'm trying another pair of mittens. Not strummed or pseudostrummed, but pseudo fair isle. I have 2 balls of sport weight woolease, one aquamarine the other pink, that are completely different from everything else in my stash. I don't know why I bought them, especially the pink. Especially since I only bought 1 ball of each, and I have no other sportweight. (Don't even know if it's even sold locally anymore.) So I thought 2nd Mitten attempt here we go!

Slight problem though with needing a size 2 needle for the cuff it takes a lot longer, and moving into the body with a size 3, I became concerned about the thinness re warmth. So, I want greater thickness but still to use the yarn, and another challege - so fair isle, with a regular weight woolease. I have now already ripped out the first attempt. While my pattern on the back of the hand was going ok, I made the poor choice of knitting with both the aqua and the aran on the palm side, meaning it was too thick for the gauge and pulling the fabric out of shape.

Now after googling for fair isle weaving, I think I know what the book was trying to tell me. I think I'm stranding right now, and apparently I knit English style. Which made the book's conteniental example confusing.

So digging in my closet for the rest of the woolease Aran (first search was futile). And am suddenly wondering if it might be in the bottom of the laundry basket of clothes I need to put away...

Second Mitt Cont.

Finished the body, and am now working on the thumb - first went the wrong way with knitting the thumb - so it'll have a ring of garter at the base, but think I'll likely drop stitches if I go back - so onward.

Am contemplating ripping out the ribbing on the hat that I started to go with the mitts, and knitting down from the stockinette. I did 1x1 and the gauge went way too big, really should have gone down a needle size (another lesson learned).

Second Mitt Progress

At first the second mitt seemed to be flying.. But with accidentally losing my fifth needle in the pencil section of a desk drawer for a day (and spending too much time looking for it), and having to go back several rows more than a few times (for some reason I get going and forget to strum).

And finally, wasted time today pulling out the waste yarn on the thumb hole, and then threading it through the empty loops. I just wanted to be able to put my hand in the mitt properly and see how I'm doing. (And it's fun.) :)

The nearly complete buzz...

I have to say the best part about working on smaller projects than 6' x 5' Afghans, has to be the frequent 'I'm nearly done!' buzzes. Most of my afghans took 2 years - mostly off, to be done. But I've gotten done more hats and scarves and mittens in the past couple months than I have ever done afghans.

It's also been challenging, after all garter stitch afghans you don't need to see to do right. I've gotten almost competent on dpns (which I didn't know existed 2 years ago). I've learned a lot more about patterns - though I have yet to follow one completely. And before the only patterns I've followed have been cross-stitch ones. (Which reminds me, I really should take out the long neglected Santa project.)

But here I am, 1:30 in the morning - working on finishing a hat - with a giddy smile that would make you think there is Apfelsnapps in my tea. :)


And now it's done.

Second Mitten

Correcting some mistakes with the second mitten. I've K4, M1 instead of K3 M1, and so the hand is a bit smaller, and is knitting up a bit faster. I'm already to the thumb row, and am comtemplating using waste yarn for the stitches and removing it when I'm ready to knit the thumb.

I'm juggling too many projects now, but I'm making sure to knit a little on each daily, so that they are working towards the end. I think gauge might be a bigger factor on speed than I thought. The size 3 silverlume twisted rib hat takes more out of my hands than the size 6 silverlume ribbed hat...

Checked out Etsy, and there is some pretty cheap alpaca roving out there... Am comtemplating making a traditional pair of strummed mitts with that...

First Mitten Done

Just finished knitting the thumb. Took out the first attempt, as it was way too big (going to shrink the number of stitches in the thumb hole next time), still oversized enough to comtemplate lining it with the wool. But that was after k1 k2tog for the first pink row. Think I would be happier with merlot color, but would have to order that..

Brown Tufted Mittens cont.

I'm surprised at how fast this is developing. Though I admit it would be going much faster if I wasn't turning it inside out to check that it isn't a total mess.

Startitis or a new hat, and my first attempt at a mitten...

I've started another hat, since I finished the Aran one. I am thinking of making another tam, but now am uncertain. See my 1x1 Rib is far too loose. I'd added a few extra stitches at the beginning and had hoped a section of ribbing would correct the issue, but it seems there will at least be elastic and perhaps felting in this hat's future.



I've also started with a mitten, in the same yarns. I've never knit one before, but the online patterns had too tight of a cuff, so I'm improving. I'm using Patons Merino Wool for the MC and using Bernet's Felting Wool for "thrums". I had each brand's Rosewood colorway, and used it in the cuff with the Patons, and am now using Brown for the mitten body, and am trying to decide if the thrums will be enough color challenge in the mitten itself, I've been thinking about making the back of the hand pink, and the palm brown but I think that might be easier knit separately rather than in the round....

Incompleteness Reigns.

No real progress - many rows, but nothing especially notable. Except for an issue with the green scarf - it had 2 decreases in the repeated pattern, and I only did 1, meaning an additional 40 stitches in the last 10 or so rows. Rather than rip back - as I did for another lace pattern oops, I think I'm going to do the same lace pattern again - but correctly this time, and play off the extra in the middle as intentional. It puckered the fabric a bit, and was done about every 4 stitches, so the additional wasn't that obvious except I was suddenly taking much longer to get done with a row.

Some colors of Paton's Merino Wool Yarn was on sale for half off at Meijer's, which I hadn't noticed them carrying before. It makes me wonder if they are permanently reducing their stock - as it seems like a lot of yarn is half off, and the bare spots on the shelves aren't being refilled.

Red Pepper Suet

It's advertised to repel squirrels but still attract, and not hurt, birds. However, the squirrel was quite happy hanging down and eating it this afternoon, although it seemed to avoid the last red pepper suet cake.

Been cross-stitching again, starting with the one I'd left in my hoop all this time, a Noah's Ark.
The rusty orange is a bit annoying, and the linen is quite rough, with a great deal of variation in the thread size, which makes counting over empty space a rougher task than usual. But in the interest of getting something DONE. I'm working on it. It is definitely a project that makes you appreciate the definition that backstitch gives, though I'm not one to wait until the whole project is stitched anyhow.

The Strasbourg yarn is now mostly a scarf, that is a bit wide, and maybe a bit short, but the garter has a lot of give. The question is: do I want to make a hat? And what yarn would go best, with the less than full ball of Bouton d'Or that I have left? Of course I still need to weave in the ends, making me enjoy being able to join the Caron yarn more (but making me feel an idiot for paying so much for so little yardage.It looks even shorter in this pic.

False Spring

The last few days have been relatively balmy - but today the cold wind is back and the bright sun lies and makes you think it won't be still winter.

Leisure Arts got me a nice photocopy, to replace my holey chart. :) Now to figure out what the heck I was doing back then.

The new colorful scarf is going well, I've been experimenting with lace patterns, when I get bored of stockinette. Plus, the Caron's felting wool is soft and smooshy - a nice contrast to the french scarf yarn which is firm and scratchy.

But French scarf might get done soon, probably only needs 30 more rows.

I've been contemplating what to do for my first sweater. Thought there was a cardigan in the new Interweave Knits, but apparently, the one I was set on doing isn't pictured there - so I'm trying to figure out where I saw it. I was thinking of doing this cardigan that was full length on the trunk but only buttoned on the top with 3 buttons, with princess sleeves (puffy and short).

More Log Cabin

Why is it that the newest WIP is so temping? I have pieces that are semi-close to done, but for some reason they don't have the same appeal. Perhaps it is because the log-cabin is different from the others - more of an experiment. The needles are midsized (8), unlike my French yarn scarf (5), or my huge afghan (15, double stranded Red Heart), but though it takes more rows for my hands to cramp up, it's the experimenting that is keeping it interesting.

I experimented in circling the rectangle - though only went halfway around so I could see if the yarn over and increase coming back would work. It looked ok. But I think it needs more color. I like the look of keeping the stitches live; it feels more knit, binding off and picking up the stitches gives a greater stiffness. Plus the back is looking cleaner and cleaner as I go on, mostly from getting better at picking up the stitches - but it does lend to a feeling of progress.



Also I'm using mostly stash yarn - left over from other afghans - which is hiding evidence that a bag of yarn apparently went missing when I bought some of it, or that I overbought in response to running out and not being able to go out to fetch more immediately. (If you've never had to stay home, then I don't think this will register.)

On another note, I went to Goodwill. I had the thought the other night about virgin wool, and googled recycling yarn. A variety of interesting blogs popped up where people had gone to a thift shop, found a promising sweater and then ripped it apart for the yarn. Which seemed like an interesting idea, and added to the suggestions in other places that it might be a decent place to find needles and yarn... I went. And have come to the conclusion that the people who found silk blends, and other nice non-polymer knits were in bigger and wealthier areas. Only found one silk/cotton some nylon blend - no wool - and that had a huge multcolored motif on the lower front corner - not enough yarn, or good enough to attempt to dissect it.

And they were right about one thing - it breaks your heart to see the granny square blankets in near pristine condition. Perhaps I can think that maybe someone spent all those hours and intentionally donated some of them - I hope so. And perhaps it is a good thing, that family members donated the old 70s yarn colors afghans that were there too, at least they weren't tossed.