Okay, let’s see if we can get back to something like normalcy around here :) I’ve been running around, getting dad to his doctor’s appointments in Boston this week so what free time I have had has been spent mostly vegetating. However, there has been some knitting going on!
I have finished the first mitt…
This pattern is one of my very favorites but let me tell you, it’s slow going - at least for me. I knit at a reasonable pace but there’s so much going on here (and at such a small scale) that I have to slow way down to make sure I get things right. However, slow though it may be, it is also incredibly gratifying to see the admittedly rococo pattern emerge. I am truly enjoying this :)
Because I eliminated two stitches from the purl ditches, the leaf/vine motif enclosed therein does something interesting. It hides when the mitt isn’t being worn. When the mitt is donned, suddenly…
...there they are! This was unanticipated, but I think it’s very cool :)
Featured in the same sale from which I acquired the sock yarn for the mitts was Lionbrand wool. I hadn’t tried it before but since it was an excellent price, decided that now was the time.
I know, I’m supposed to be branching out from pinks and purples. Eh, I do still like purple and because of the sale, only a limited selection of colors remained on the shelves. I only got two balls of the stuff because, really this is a let’s-see-what-this-is-like exercise. On the good side, it’s a larger than average helping of yarn since the ball is 85 grams (rather than the usual 50 grams) and 158 yds. The yarn feels very rough to me though. I will have to work up a swatch or a hat or something and see how it feels after it has been knitted and washed. If it still feels too scratchy to wear, I’ll toss it into the blanket stash for future use :)
I started another cowl last night - hopefully a gift for a friend.
This a Paton’s Classic Merino of which I am growing more and more fond. It works up nicely (for both knitting and dyeing purposes), has a decent hand, is easy to find and isn’t terribly expensive. What more could you ask of a yarn?
Clearly my brain has been fried by doing the little teeny bobbles on the mitts. What can I say? I like bobbles :) I must say, they’re a lot easier (and faster) at standard worsted gauge than at fingering weight and I envision bobble sections set off by seed stitch bars. This is being worked end to end rather than in the round and will probably get buttons or clasps when its finished.
I saw the inaugural proceedings Tuesday, waiting with my father at the VA hospital. The room was jammed with people - not only patients, but receptionists, nurses and orderlies - anyone who had a few minutes to spare. I watched an elderly woman who was moved to tears and a young man who removed his hat for the opening prayer and recited the Lord’s Prayer (sub vocally) with the reverend. I also saw several expressions of doubt and skepticism amongst the group. But none of these reactions were specific to an age or a race.
It also occurred to me that if we, the people of the United States) can elect an African American to the highest office in the land, perhaps we aren’t as bigoted as I had feared. While I am not in any way a political person and have no opinion on what kind of leader President Obama may turn out to be, I am heartened never the less.
Onwards!
See the Knitting Chatter button on the side bar for more information.
Chatters is on for tomorrow evening. I have missed our little sessions and am looking forward to hearing about everybody’s projects for the new year.
Hope to see you then!
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Sorry I won’t be able to join Chatters tomorrow night. I’ll be at the Symphony instead. Since we last chatted, I knit two chemo hats for a friend of a friend, completed my Classic Elite’s October scarf pattern which was in honor of breast cancer awareness month, and cast on for a bucket hat—for ME! What I haven’t done is work on my “Christmas” sweater which is mostly intarsia which I like but don’t like to knit.
Oops, I forgot ... I’ve spent a lot of time working on a christening blanket for a friend’s granddaughter. Christening is February 15 so I must finish by the end of next week and air mail to New Zealand. I’m getting close to finishing. It’s from a Leisure Arts pattern book has has cables alternating with lace panels in it. I’m knitting it in white in Caron’s Pound of Love yarn. Coming out very nice.
Oh, yay. So glad you’re back Robbyn. We all missed you. Also glad to see that the world is starting to turn normally for you.
Hi Robbyn,
So glad you are back—I missed you! Wish I could have participated in Chatters but was off in Denver at a conference. Silly me—I didn’t take any knitting!! The mitts are lovely, and you were very creative in finding ways to do the dyeing in someone else’s kitchen.
