Warm fuzzy yummy mittens

I am still battling the big blue blob.  I've knit about halfway through the second sleeve, so it won't be ready for Christmas, but it should be done not long after.  I have packed another present in the box and will send the sweater by and by.

In the meantime, you get another finished object post!  How lucky are you.

The Common Reader will remember that I bought a new-to-me spinning wheel.  A few weeks later, the lady I purchased it from, Nena, called me up and asked if I would like some fiber she'd found while cleaning.  Would I ever!

Among this fiber was some angora/alpaca roving that she'd purchased at Estes in 1996 (!!).  It was perfectly lovely.  I had promised Malia, one of our wedding attendants, that I would knit her anything she liked--within reason--and she requested mittens.  When I saw the alpaca/angora, the wheels in my head and my living room* began turning immediately.

The roving became this:

About 120 yards of bulky-weight yarn

which in turn became these:

Some pretty fucking fabulous mittens

Aren't they pretty?  I could not resist putting them on myself.

I also knit a matching earwarmer

And they got to Malia just in time for the snow to start where she lives.  A success all around.

*Zeugma!

Moar mittens

I finished my mittens! And today, taking advantage of the sun (!!), I went outside for a photo shoot.

They're North Star mittens, from Knit Mittens! in Rowan Cashsoft DK. I recommend the yarn without reservation--it's very smooth, in that cashmerey way, but the knitted fabric feels pretty sturdy, for all it's quite drapey. I think it'll wear well for mittens.

The pattern, though . . . oy. I mentioned in my first post about these mittens that the chart had an error and that the instructions were confusing. This pair was knit from a different chart (as it was in a smaller size) . . . but THAT chart had an error as well. I also discovered several more typos in the instructions, and once again was completely baffled by the decreases to the extent that I just did as I pleased. They're very nice mittens, but I can't recommend the pattern at all.

I knit these in the smallest size because my last attempt produced mittens too long for my hands. I should have looked at the given sizes--these are still too long for me. I'll wear 'em regardless, but if I were to knit them again, I'd just start about eight lines farther up the chart when I came to the stranded knitting. Which is, in fact, so easy a solution that now I'm depressed for not thinking of it before I made mittens too long for my hands . . .

Back in the Saddle

At long last, I am home again. Everything seems to be as before, and it's frickin' freezing outside . . . hooray?

Travelling Roses is done and awaits blocking--I'll probably do that this afternoon. (If I don't freeze to death, brrrrr.)

Work on the second toe-up sock continues, as does work on the North Star mittens. In this weather, mittens are top priority. I'm about half-done with the first, but they're quick to knit up.

In the meantime, I leave you with . . . kitteh pictures!

Mickey, too, has a yarn habit:


I can quit anytime I want to, I swear:

Works-in-progress update

Much knitting has been accomplished of late! Since I was at K's for the holiday, my travel projects got some time in. These are usually small, light, and portable stuff--a la lecture knitting--but they don't need to be so simple. Hence, Travelling Roses got some attention paid to it. I'm really liking the pattern so far--it's well-designed, and it looks nice even in the rumpled pre-blocking state. Even better, the repeat is really long (44 rows), so it never gets boring or repetitive to knit, and there are only 13 repeats. Excellent for the knitter with a short attention span. (I love how in the picture you can see errant dog hairs clinging to the scarf. Everything I knit has an unusual fiber content.)

I also did some work on the toe-up Regia socks. After working my way up the foot, I used the short row heel from Wendy Johnson's Generic Toe-Up Sock Pattern. It looks fine, but I think I'll try something new when I knit another pair of toe-up socks. I find the wraps kind of irritating to work with. This is a good lecture-knitting-type project. I can work on it in the car or on the phone or in the dark. And the stripes happen like magic! (Have I mentioned how fascinating I find the self-striping yarn? Once or twice, perhaps?) I do like the toe-up method, too--I may knit all my basic socks toe-up from now on. If nothing else, you cast on fewer stitches, which appeals to those of us who hate casting on.

Since finishing my last big project at home, I've begun work on these. You guessed it--another pair of North Star Mittens, same yarn as before. Since the last effort resulted in mittens a little too big for me, I'm knitting them in the smallest size this time. It's working fine so far . . . It's amazing how using all this very lightweight yarn changes one's perspective. The first time I knit socks in actual fingering-weight yarn, I spent the whole time thinking "this is sooooo sloooooow . . ." Now, after spending all my time with the Regia and the Diana, the DK Cashsoft seems huge. If I ever knit something in worsted weight again, I'll probably be shocked at how quickly it goes.

Having launched myself well into Travelling Roses, I'm already looking ahead to my next lace project. There are so many patterns out there, free or not, and they're all so gorgeous. I'm thinking another scarf or two, to earn my lace credentials, and then something bigger, maybe an Anne Hanson shawl. Now THAT would be a challenge . . .

On another note, I finally figured out how to turn off the flash on my camera. Hooray!

Not one color but two

Way back in the day, the lovely Katie gave me this book. Over the summer, I finally got around to knitting something from it.

These are the North Star Mittens, in Rowan Cashsoft DK, colors 500 (cream) and 521 (burgundy). I love this yarn--the acrylic will make it sturdy enough for mittens, while the merino and cashmere make it a pleasure to knit with. I think it also passes the "can Lanafactrix wear it around her neck?" test.

The pattern, not so thrilled. It was a bit confusing to read, with several major errors (including one in one of the charts). Having three sizes to choose from is nice--but not at the expense of pattern clarity. These were originally intended for me, but it turns out that my hands are not as ginormous as my feet. This is the medium size pattern, which is just a bit longer than I'd like in the fingers. Since I had more than enough yarn leftover--I bought four skeins, and these used less than a skein of each color--I'll just knit myself a pair in the smaller size and give these away for Christmas.

On the other hand (you see what I did there), despite my struggles with the pattern, the mittens were a quick and relatively painless knit, and they sure do look purty. This was the first time I'd done stranded knitting--I'm very pleased with the result. I can't figure out ~quite~ how to get my colorwork completely flat, but I think that will come with practice.