Just off my needles...

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M y sweet friend Dao's sweet friend Kirbi just had a sweet little baby girl. And that deserved a sweet little hat.

This is the Lilly of the Valley Hat as it is a little white flower with leaves and stem. I was quite pleased that I could knit this with yarn from my stash. I hate having 6 wicker bins of yarn and am pleased when I can use something up.

Also felting some red and black slippers that looked like ugly little lumps at the moment. I need to refelt and see if I can't improve them...

(Laurie, the white part is the white Cascade stretchy cotton yarn you gave me. I enjoyed knitting with it. Thanks!)

Suffering from Second Sock Syndrome

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S econd Sock Syndrome is when you knit one sock and rather than knitting the second one you move on to different yarn and knit one. Apparently I have it as some of these socks were knit when I lived in Eau Claire. Ugh. So this is my car knitting until I get these 3 pair done. I do like knitting socks. They can fit in your purse and when you are anywhere you can just take it out and knit away. I tend to knit at sporting events. And since I can barely finish 2 socks it is obvious why I don't knit sweaters.

The middle sock is my new favorite sock yarn by Lang Yarns, Jawoll Color. Unfortunately I got this yarn on ebay and it appears to be made in Italy. A charming surprise is that in the middle of each skein they include matching extra thin yarn that you use when you knit the heels and toes. I love it when anything I buy is well thought out.

Carol's Hat...

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T oday my friend Carol has her first chemo treatment. So I wanted her to have a chemo hat in case she loses her hair. And of course I over think everything and would of course do the same here. I wanted it to be cute, to be soft, to be just right. What I really want is this hat to somehow save her life. But in the end it is just a hat, it is soft and I think it is cute and I hope it brings her some comfort because a lot of love and prayers were knit into it.

Carol, my thoughts and prayers are with you today. And the hat went in the mail yesterday.

Kc's Half Mitts...

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M y poor niece apparently has no mittens. She has been 'borrowing' the pair of half mitts I made her Mom back in November. I was asked to make Kc some so Pat can start wearing hers. Kc likes pink and has a brown pea coat. Happy early birthday Kc... they went in the mail Saturday.

The other mitt I am knitting this year...

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I've tried to knit this yarn before but it was stiff and had little give to it. I don't have the ball band so I am not sure what it is but I think it is cotton. But I love the color and the tweed. I added some mohair of the same color that was also in my stash, that softened it. I started looking at a picture but ended up making up my own pattern as I went. I've knit this pattern 4 times and it varies according to the weight of the yarn that I use. Just ribbing and one cable. Add a thumb and you are done. Generally when I knit this I can get 2 half mitts from one skein of yarn.

This lovely capital I is created by typographer & illustrator Jessica Hische. You can see her work at Daily Drop Cap. I love her work. Watch for more of these typographical treats in my posts.

Jane's Half Mitts

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I knit a lot of half mitts. This is one of this year's patterns. This is the pair I knit for my good friend Jane. These are all of her colors. This pair is not perfect. Generally my first one is not. My process it to make something until I get it right... Next I am going to make a pair for myself in brown, greens and blues. Actually I am going to design a pattern but thought I would knit the first one according to an existing pattern to get the needles/yarn scale right. This was fun to knit but LOTS of ends to weave in.

Yarn is peruvian wool fingerling weight from Knit Picks. The pattern is Composed Mitts by Michele Rose Orne from Interweave Press.


Reknit and Reuse...

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I was inspired by podcaster Brenda Dayne's last series of reusing, using things up, and using things you already have. I decided to save one of my first pair of knitted socks. To a non-knitter you may wonder why but it takes HOURS of knitting and about $20 worth of yarn to make one pair.

So I cut the socks off just above the heel and knit the heel using some purple tweed, then I switched to some self striping yarn to finish up. All yarn from my stash. I actually like these better than the original.

This process reminded my of going home to visit my parents. I'd spend some time chatting and knitting, usually socks. My Dad came from a family of 10 and would tell me about his Ma as he called her, knitting socks for the family. She used a sock knitting machine, which I wish I had. When the socks were worn out she would cut them off at the heel and reknit them just as I did.

(Laurie, the original socks were knit in some lime/purple Lorna's Laces yarn you gave me once!)