I had started these mittens for a certain purple-loving friend as a Christmas present:



Only then, during a conversation we had last week, she happened to mention how much she liked the cabled mittens I had done for a few people, and now I am worried that these are not interesting enough. What do you all think?

Mittens that is.


I don't think I posted these before, but these were the first fingerless mittens I made, in white sparkly wool-ease. Impractical? Yes. But oh so pretty.


Hand-dyed superwash wool. You can't really see in the pic, but I used a spiral rib pattern. And I reversed the pattern on the second mitten, so that the spirals go in opposite directions.


Most recent mittens. I finished these last night for a swap. The yarn is a marled, self-striping acrylic, but it's quite soft and nice.

This weekend we had a crafting day outing - lordavon, ladygwyn and I attended the Webs Knit for Hope event on Sunday. It was loads of fun. I was very good and only bought a little bit of yarn...and 2 knitting pattern books.

Lordavon won pretty laceweight yarn:



More pics can be found here: Knit for Hope Gallery.

Went to Webs today for their Knit for Hope event. Made scarves with lordavon, ladygwyn, and jadefu. Was silly and fun.

Knit for Hope

A basket full of scarves

Also, I started my first sweater, Mariah from Knitty. Currently working both sleeves on my new Addi Turbos, which I like very much. I started this on Sept 20 and this is all I have done so far, so we'll see how long this takes.

Mariah Sleeves

Work on various and sundry projects continues, at its usual slow pace. However, I took a break from some of them to make a nice easy bag, which I quite like.

Before felting

After felting

I started working on this little handbag in July. I've been finished with the knitting part for some time, but actually had to drag out my new sewing machine to sew a lining for it. I was excited to use the sewing machine for the first time (not the least of my excitement had to do with the fact that this bargain purchase actually worked). I sewed the lining in by hand, and then realized that the handles, which I had taken off of another bag which I was throwing out some time ago, needed be to put on before the lining. Ripped the lining out, attached the handles, and sewed the lining back in. Upon further reflection, I should either have gotten smaller handles, or made the bag bigger, but in any case...here's the finished product:

So, last week, I started experimenting with Entrelac. I used some acrylic yarn I had leftover from another project as a test of the pattern. It came out pretty funky, and I think I am going to make a pillow out of it. I'll post pictures once that is done. In the meantime, here are some pics of a scarf I am working on with an alpaca/wool blend yarn that I dyed myself. I am such a dork.

( Knitting progress )

Also, I forgot to mention that geekpixie and I had a yarn-for-money exchange which I think worked out very well for both of us. I am very much looking forward to making a sweater with the bottle green patons classic wool. =)

And, continuing on my yarn entry: I received an e-mail today from the guy at Caron yarns that I spoke to at the trade show. My sample skeins of yarn are on their way to me. Rock on! Free yarn!

Tonight's plans: clean room to make space for yarn.

The trade show itself was really interesting. Most of the stuff was scrapbooking, and a lot of it looked the same, but there were some cool things. And there was yarn, Lion brand, Caron, and Coats and Clark all had booths. I scored some free stuff, 6 or so skeins of yarn from the Lion people, a set of crystallite needles from Coats and Clark, and (hopefully) a couple more skeins of yarn from Caron (one of the sales guys was going to send us stuff). Go me and my feminine wiles. I also got to fondle some rosewood needles, and boy were they pretty.

Speaking of knitting, I completed the body of a little handbag during my various flights, and now just have to figure out how to use my sewing machine, so I can put the lining in and attach handles or straps of some sort. It's cute, and the variegated yarn did a neat looking spiral-y striping thing, completely by accident.

Put in a couple of hours at work on Sat morning, but it wasn't too bad, and I scored myself some huge knitting needles and a box o' yarn for my troubles. Hurt my back yesterday, and it has been bothering me off and on all weekend, but liberal applications of heat and ibuprofen have seemed to help, at least a little bit. Finished the fingerless mittens (which look pretty neat, I think), and the main part of the hat (which actually fits me this time). Maybe I can make the ears this week and finally have myself a kitty hat. Just in time for Spring. =)

Another day with nothing of interest to report. Finished my kitty hat last night, and it looks pretty cute. Otherwise, nothing really going on in my world. God, I'm boring.

What have I accomplished this evening? Well...I tried to finish up my Easter cards, and have found that the thing I am best at making is a mess. Once again, ended up with glitter all over me, the carpet, and the cats.

Recently, I told my pen pal about a sock and a fingerless glove I had knitted (yes, just one of each). In response, he wrote the following: Guess you'll have to make the sock and the mitten a companion in time for the awful, awful holiday - or maybe wait, and let them be miserable, like the rest of us.

Feeling better today. But still not good. Spent yesterday knitting in front of the TV. When I wasn't napping, that is. Finished my sock homework. I could probably finish the sock following the directions that I have. I mean, I understand them and everything. But I am not sure I was doing one of the stitches right, and would like to get confirmation on that before I continue. So, it'll wait until Wed. I am also nearly finished with a fingerless mitten. It's pretty spiffy. Should be able to get that done today...and then I just have to make the other one. Well, I am off to make myself some more tea and find some bad TV to watch.

I knit a hat.

It'd be much more exciting if it actually fit me. It fits around, but doesn't come down far enough on my head. Oops. Still, it looks pretty good, I think. I plan on making one that actually fits me. It didn't take too long, so that's good anyway. So if you or anyone you know has a kind of small head and would like a black hat, let me know.

Sat and Sun were spent at home, mostly sitting in front of the television with my knitting. The knitting goes on apace. I finally put together the catnip wonton, for which the kitties were extremely grateful. And I completed a scarf and started on another one. If I can get the second one done this week, I'll give them both as gifts, one for dad and one for the WOS (that's wicked old stepmother, in case you were wondering). I'll take some pictures and post them so you can all ooh and aaah over how crafty I am. Or not. Whatever. In any case, I am enjoying the knitting very much and hope to move beyond scarves soon. I'd like to make a pair of socks or a hat with kitty ears (because I tried some on a few weeks ago and they were adorable).

Catnip Wonton