Knitting... Outside the Lines

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This is the second Mason-Dixon Knitting Book. The first book had a nice dishcloth pattern made out of the cotton yarn I started knitting with as a kid. This book has a pattern for 'Swifty' which is a variation of that dishcloth pattern but you attach it to your Swifter.

We have a lot of nice white ceramic tile to now keep clean. I probably would not have chosen white for up keep reasons but I can easily run the Swifter over it daily.

My Swifty seems a little loose but it has not been washed yet and this yarn does shrink. So I think it may be a perfect fit. It is a quick, easy pattern and very usable finished product.

Knitted Cable Scarf

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I've been knitting these cable seed stitch scarves lately. I saw a picture and made them so there isn't really a pattern. Basically half the row is the seed stitch and the other half is a reversible cable. I learned to do the reversible cable (very easy) so that it looked nice on both sides. I picked some wool I had in my stash and combined several colors and yarns for texture and picked a needed that worked so I got the look I wanted. Try it. You'll like it.

Knitted Christmas Trees

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I have a little knitting group. We met this week at Lakeside Fiber for an evening of knitting, wine, chatting. It was lovely. And these were the cute windows at Lakeside.

If you get to Madison you should go and check out Lakeside Fiber. It is a great store and it is attached to a cafe which is now serving wine and shortly small plates of food. Even better yet the cafe area looks out over the bay of Lake Monona. Can't beat that.

AlterKNITS felt by Leigh Radford

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I would like to morph into being a fiber artist so books like this fascinate me. I do enjoy felting wool items after I have knit them even though the results are often hit or miss. Lots can affect the end result... temp of water, kind of yarn used, size of needle/tightness of knitted piece before felting etc. It is always a surprise in the end and not always a good one. That may be part of the fasination. This book has patterns for i-cord wrap bracelets that you felt. That will be my first project.

It also gives suggestions on embellishing and sewing with whatever you have felted. I rarely make anything just like it is shown unless it is just no brainer knitting to calm my busy mind. I like books like these because they make me think of things to make. New ideas to roll around in my head with like all the other ideas rolling around up there. Eventually things click and I go make something.

Nice book. Thanks John.

Knitted Mittens

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I really like this pattern but I really like the look of the garter stitch. I used a heavy wool yarn in crean and a thick and thin cotton/acrylic in black. Unfortunately I've lost the ball bands but both came from Black Purl in Wausau. The pattern is a free one from Garnstudio. It should have been knit flat and sewn together. I did the ribbing in the round and the mitten flat so I could get the garter stitch. That way I only had to sew up half the mitten.

I like knitting mittens so I can knit them to fit my hands exactly. And these being mostly wool and garter stitch are dense and warm.

Neckwarmer... it's cold outside

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This is the second time I've knit this pattern. This time it is a little shorter and I only used one button - a vintage one. Here is the one I knit last year and all the pattern info. The nice thing about a neck warmer you don't have to pay much attention to gauge. I knit this one out of one skein of LLH GOA yarn. It is a heavier yarn 50% cotton and 50% acrylic. My neck is always cold so this is a nice little warm Winter piece.

Thursday in Bowler & Wausau...

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Cold, bright and sunny here today. Big snow coming over night though. We are wondering if we will get out of here tomorrow when John's shoot is done. And there should be more snow as we keep driving south to get home. This is the lodge we are staying at. I am blogging in the lobby. Internet as well as cell phone service is spotty. No internet in the room which is just fine. The room is like all hotel rooms but the lobby is cozy with a huge Christmas tree, fireplace and lots of comfy leather furniture. And I have a mug of chia tea.

John's shoot yesterday went well, I dropped him off at noon and picked him up about midnight. Now he is napping because the print shoot will be at 1:30AM, yesterday was the TV part. We were both happy that he could find a hotspot to get a call out to me to come and get him last night.

We keep driving by this farm that has all these bowling pins nailed to a fence.

We drove into Wausau about 30 miles away to find some lunch and YARN. I was getting panicky as I brought 3 partially finished projects with me and 2 are done. I should have taken gauge into consideration and put a pair of sox in or something. So we went to the Black Purl which is a lovely yarn store. I recommend it if you are in the area. It had a table of friendly knitters including the owner. I got yarn and needles to make some nice heavy, wool, cream mittens and was waylaid by the cedar chest full of 60% odds and ends. I am the one (or 2 skein) wonder. I love to buy one ball of this or that. So I did, unfortunately this leads to lots of yarn but not enough of anything to make much.

A couple blocks down the street from the Black Purl is Evolution. I was here once with my SIL Pat and my Mom. It is a darling store with more good visuals than it is possible to absorb. A perfect bit of Christmas. Lots more good visuals but it was -9 and I am using my iPhone camera.

Tomorrow we go home, hopefully.

Nancy left this comment on yesterday's post about Shawano...

And . . . so then what happened?? This is like a phone conversation when the voice is cut off and there is a thud and I'm saying "Hello? Hello?" Should I call the police? Don't keep me in suspense.

Here is a link to the story...

And Happy Birthday Beth!