pescovegetarian mittens

When I moved to DC, I promptly went out in search of a yarn shop. Because, it's good to be prepared and get your priorities straight from the get go. Well, I thankfully found a quirky little LYS which has subsequently grown a bit larger, in Old Town Alexandria. Fibre Space is inviting and inspiring - with lots of natural light and the owner's little dog making the commercial space feel homey.

The first thing I bought was the yarn for these here mittens. They came together really fast and for year, sat in a box under my bed until I decided to gift them to my mother for Christmas.

I included this pattern in my knitters gift guide - mittens edition, and the pattern can me found here. (Psst, it's Finnish, so you know it's gotta be good, right - but the pattern's in English, so no worries.)

flights of fancy

This wallpaper makes me a little week in the knees. Seriously, knitted wall paper? It's too much! Too bad the website is all in Norweigan, not that I'd be able to afford it or have anywhere to put it, alas. Thanks poppytalk for giving a girl something to dream about.

 

Oh, and Downton Abbey was really good but I stayed up way to late watching it. This season, the episodes are truly 2 hours long (w/o commercials). And not that I'm complaining, but that's kind of a lot - a lot of indulgent fabulousness, but still, I'm going to have to be a little more careful about getting an earlier start.

my lil' cascade

A month or so ago, I posted a picture of this in my pile of unfinished projects. Well, I got on the ball and finished up my lil' cascade cardi on my trip home for Thanksgiving. And it looks like I finished it just in time because if fits my niece just about perfect (thank the heavens this girl grows so slow).

I really love the leaf detail that doubles as button holes. It was a bear to get straight and after frogging and reknitting it a couple times, I made a chart, checked off each row as I went and finally got it right. And I chose to just place the one button because, I'm kind of lazy and I think that she'd probably wear it open most of the time anyway.

Here she is reluctantly modeling her new sweater.

Now, that's better. Look how cute she looks!

Raveled here - you see that? I'm finally getting on board and posting my projects on Ravelry.

I dreamed a dream

I think that I can officially call it a head cold. Mostly just an annoyance at this point and I'm doing my best to contain my germs and prevent it from getting worse. And I don't know if it was my cold, the Advil PM or all the knitting I've been doing lately but I had the weirdest dream last night. I dreamt that I was finger croqueting this long chain which I somehow turning into a scarf and as it got longer and longer it wrapped all around me. When I woke up I almost expected to find yarn in my bed. But no, just my duvet. I haven't started sleep knitting. That would be pretty weird, right?

Maybe something like this - for which I can't find a source.

So I've been playing with finger knitting lately. It's something I saw a while ago and the other day as I was decorating my 8inch Christmas tree with yarn from my stash, I thought hey, I should try that. After playing with it for a few minutes I had a chord a yard long with which I tied a cute bow around the pot. It's got potential for decorating, gift wrapping and head bands. Here's a tutorial that spells it out nicely. The picture above looks to be a finger knitted cord that is being finger crocheted into a chain.

you're welcome

I don't know where this all started but there are people putting words in Ryan Gosling's mouth, all over the internet. Yesterday, I happened to stumble upon this tumblr site devoted to "handmadery". And honestly, I went a little weak in the knees. Don't get me wrong, I don't expect anyone (especially a guy) to understand my passion for the fiber arts. And personally, I'm rather fond of the idea putting these words Joshua Jackson's mouth, but that's just about personal preference. Imagine with me.

Hey girl, it's killing me that you have to frog all those rows.

Yep, even better. I should probably be ashamed of myself.

Christmas is upon us*

Confession, this weekend I bought solar powered Christmas lights for my porch only to discover that this time of year, the sun rarely graces my front steps. Yep, not my finest moment. But seriously, this is the northern hemisphere! Maybe I'll put them away and bring them out in June or send them to my friend in Australia.

So, I hope you have all enjoyed my Knitters Gift Guide series. To recap, here are the links:

• Hats
• Mittens
• Scarves

And if you're not a knitter, but would like to become one I can't think of a better new years resolution. Miss Nem over at Voice of Reason just put together a lovely and comprehensive guide on how to get started. I couldn't say it better myself, so I won't. Check it out here.

In other news, I've been channeling my sugar high* busily knitting and shopping for Christmas gifts and succeed in marking a few things off my list this weekend. Also, made said lists. It'll be here before we know it, better keep on moving.


* I'm inclined to believe that this is a song that has only ever been sung at my elementary school, a real shame. But to anyone else that went to Bonneville Elementary, I was an elf.

* What is it with sugar this time of year? I can't remember the last time I ate a real meal. Fortunately, I just received a crate of grapefruit (which I remember vaguely ordering from a neighbor kid who was raising money for a band trip or something) and I am hell bent on consuming before Christmas, in hopes that it will in someway counteract the sugar or at least prevent scurvy. 

knitters gift guide - scarves edition

Far be it from me to diswade anyone from jumping into any number of monumental projects with more or less ridiculous expectations of finishing them as gifts by the 25th. Be my guest and join me in the crazy. But if you're a tich more realistic than myself, I thought I'd suggest a couple of projects that are totally doable.

May I present my series of 3-strand scarves. The idea is to knit 3 strands together using a relatively simple stitch that really lets the combination of yarns shine. They knit up really fast because holding 3 strands together makes for a pretty chunky yarn and you can knit them on big needles. These are the sort of project that you could complete in an evening while watching your favorite Christmas movie. Selecting your yarns may be the hardest part - but if you like yarn shopping like I like yarn shopping, it's more fun than I'd like to admit.

Sample #1 - garter stitch

Here's the simplest of the lot (confession, I didn't make this one - it was purchased but I'm showing it for it's demonstrative value not to showcase my own workmanship)

Pick 2 colors - an accent color and a complimentary/neutral color, in this case red and white. Could be fun to use school/team colors to personalize it. To duplicate this look, your 3 yarns would be:

1) red
2) white
3) white - either use 2 strands of the same white or find 2 different yarns of differing textures to make it more interesting

The stitch: Garter (knit every row) on extra large needles - keep it loose.


Sample #2 - ribbed scarf

This one is almost as easy as the first and only requires that you know how to purl. And so as not to loose all credibility, I did make this one.

Find a yarn that is really interesting in color and texture and showcase it with two neutrals. I found a ball of recycled silk yarn at a quirky little store in Alaska and couldn't figure out what to do with it. I ended up pairing it with a white single ply wool and a silk bamboo blend in an oatmeal/taupe color.  So to duplicate this scarf your 3 yarns would be:

1) Recycled silk (find something showy - I like that this is verigated)
2) fluffy white wool
3) silk-bamboo blend (oatmeal)

The stitch: basic 1x1 rib. K1, P1 (repeat). On the next row, knit the knits and purl the purls and repeat to the end.


#3 - the stitch that shall not be named* scarf

This scarf is a little bit trickier. I wouldn't say that it's difficult but it requires a bit more attention than the previous two - which you could probably do with your eyes closed once you get a few rows in. Watch what you're doing and you'll be fine. It's really quite simple and looks awesome.

 

Here, I found a yarn I really liked and I chose 3 colors that looked good together. In this case, a worsted weight single ply wool, in 3 shades of purple.

The stitch: (co an even number of stitches) slip the 1st stitch; * yo, k2tog; repeat from * to last stitch, k1. The pattern is the same every row, front and back. 



Have fun with it and be creative. The possibilities are endless and you're sure to come out with a one-of-a-kind gift that will keep you're loved one warm this winter. A couple of final notes. 1) As I've noted on the #3, I like to slip the first stitch of a row, it makes a nice edge but really consistency is key. 2) Keep 'em narrow. Because with 3 strands these scarves will knit up quite thick, they can be quite narrow. I think that that #2 is only 12 stitches wide. 3) Also, as you can see, some of these have tassels which can be fun, or seam the ends together and make an infinity scarf.

Happy knitting!



*This stitch has a name, which though in a historical context is probably not only understandable but also descriptive, it's nowadays a derogatory slur that I don't like to use even in this context.

thrumming along

I stayed up way too late last night knitting. It's a sick obsession but I liken it to what video games must be, though I've never played them. I'm driven to get to the next part, to finish  this section, to reknit this section, to get it right and to make it better.

So I ventured into the soft and cozy world of thrumming. And because I don't expect anyone to know what that is I'll remind you of my knitter's gift guide: mittens edition. I included a pattern which actually turned out to be quite confusing. It seems the the author drinks a lot of wine while she knits, and I'm thinking it might have a two drink minimum.

As a sober knitter, I sought out another pattern, which I like much better but chose not to follow it either. I went rogue and made it up as I went, which is always risky (especially when you're attempting a matched pair of something). But so far so good. And maybe if we're all lucky I'll write it up.

Here's a picture from Yellow Dog Knitting - I think their patten is pretty good and isn't this the sweetest little mitten? I love how the thrums make lines of puffy little v's.

knitters gift guide - mittens edition

Yesterday I shared a few of my favorite hat patterns and today I thought I'd indulge/bore you with mittens. Don't you just love mittens? I've never tried knitting gloves, all those fingers, too much work for me. Plus no one ever sings about warm knitted gloves. These are a few of my favorites:

 

Pescovegetarian mittens by Veera Villapuu

I can personally attest that these are deceptively quick and easy, and lovely. Lovely, first. Plus they're designed by a Finn, so of coarse I can't help but love them.

You can find the pattern on her blog here.

 

 

Bella's Mittens by Marielle Henault

 You guessed it, these were inspired by Twilight. Whatever, they're still pretty cute and maybe an awesome gift for the Twilight fan in your life.

You can download the pattern for free here or here.

Yarn Harlot Thrummed Mittens by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

I know that these may not be the cutest mittens you've ever seen but they are quite possibly the warmest. This is a technique that I've been meaning to try for a while, maybe this year.
 

You can download the pattern for free here. 

 

 Herringbone Mittens with Poms by Elli Stubenrauch

I love how this pattern feel simultaneously traditional and modern - right in line with the current chevron trend. And the stranding (using 2 colors/strands) makes 'em warmer.

You can download the pattern for free here.

 

 Rib Mittens ( AAde Mittens) by Tognato Barbara

Ah, look at all those glorious cables. I made these last year for my little sister and they were really fun but I'll warn you, quite time consuming. See my final product here.

You can download the pattern for free here.

knitters gift guide - hats

I'm starting to think about Christmas - gifts that is. A knitters gotta start early or she'll find herself knitting through the night facing hand cramps and a very unhappy back. So I ask you, how many times can a girl give hats to everyone on her gift list before it becomes a cop out?

Well, here's a few patterns that I have my eye on, that are far from cliche (and p.s. they're all available as free downloads).

Nell by Lisa Gutierrez

I just love this vintage inspired tam. 

You can download the pattern for free here. 

 

Regina by Carina Spencer

This art deco inspired hat is absolutely beautiful. And what's really cool about this pattern is you can use any weight of yarn you choose - which is great for rebels like myself who hate to use the proscribed yarn for a pattern and often end up paying for it with and ill-fitting final product.

You can download the pattern for free here. 

I'm Glad it's Plaid by Jane Roberts

I've already got this one on the needles and it's getting me all nostalgic for Christmas and snow days. 

You can download the pattern for free here.

Milanese Lace Topper by tante ehm

Isn't it lovely, don't let the word lace scare you, you just might find it a fun challenge.

You can download the pattern for free here.

 

 

 A Better Bucket by Amy Swenson

And if you're not into beanies or tams, how about svelte bucket hat? 

You can download the pattern for free here.

 

Maybe I'll throw some mittens in the mix to keep things interesting. Come back tomorrow and I'll share some of my favorite mitten patterns.

And then there's the question of what to get the men in my family. I never know what to make them. knitted ties? golf club covers? another beanie? I could depart from the knitting theme, but I don't have any bright ideas there either. Good thing I've got some time to think about it. think. think. think.

work[s] in progress

Saturday morning, I ventured out into the rain and made my way to the yarn store. I was on a mission, to buy yarn for my very own chevron scarf. And boy oh boy, Fibre Space sure does have some be.a.u.tiful yarns right now. I was hard pressed to choose and there were several that I just can't stop thinking about.

Back at home, as I was searching for the right size of knitting needles, I came across a sad little queue of unfinished projects. "This has to stop!", I told myself. And I forbade myself from buying any more yarn, starting any more projects until I've finished all these. Now, let's see if I can hold myself to it.

Clockwise from upper left: Baby Jacket, Fern Lace Scarf, Chevron Scarf, Simple Baby Shoes, Cascade Cardigan. Looks like somebody loves purple, no?

It's going to be hard because, I really want to make this.

owls debut

Here it is, the moment you've all been waiting for.

OWLS

Pattern by Kate Davies

Yarn: Cascade Eco +

2 skeins - $40

pattern - £3.95

knitting time - 2 weeks

ta dah!

And I've already worn it twice.

chevron love

Look at this darling scarf that my dear friend down under made. Despite the fact that she is in the hemisphere that is going into Summer, she's still got the knitting bug. And what's more, I've been thinking about making a chevron scarf for weeks now. The only thing that was stopping me was the notion that I may have to crochet it. But never fear, Merja has gone and written a pattern and shared it with us all on her blog, h.e.l.m.i. so that we can be warm and chic this winter.

Thanks for the inspiration!

what's making me happy this week

There's this podcast that I listen to. It's called Pop Culture Happy Hour and it's hosted by Linda Holmes, who has become a hero of sorts to me. She used to be a lawyer and now she's a pop culture blogger for NPR. She's witty and geeky and all together quite lovable.

Once a week, she gathers together some of her friends at NPR and they chat about pop culture. It's sort of like eaves dropping on a really great dinner party.

At the end of every episode, they go around the group and everyone shares something that is making them happy that week. It's really interesting to hear what makes people happy and often it's small or obscure things that truly bring the most pleasure.

So here it is,

what's making me happy this week

 

1) Jujy Fruit. I can't really explain why I like them. They're weird and always getting stuck in your teeth. But every time I see that yellow box, I want them. A couple weeks ago, I passed a display of Halloween candy and there was a big bag of little boxes of Jujy Fruit. I couldn't help myself. They were still soft so they didn't even stick to my teeth and I love eating them out of those teeny tiny boxes.


2) Geraniums. Last Saturday when the weather suddenly turned cold I decided to dig up my geraniums and bring them indoors. I may have been a bit  premature, but I have loved seeing them on my window sill in the mornings.

3) Knitting. I'm closing in on those owls now. 

Okay, okay so my happy things don't have much to do with pop culture, although I think I could make an argument for the jujy fruit, but, here's another

4) Revenge. This show is either really good or really bad but I'm seriously hooked. It's sort of Gossip Girl meets Lifetime movie. Yes, it's total trash, but if into that sort of thing... feel free to join me.

o-w-l-s

Well, it's fall here in the Northern Hemisphere, and we all know what that means, knitting season. Okay, maybe I'm alone in this but as soon as temperatures start dropping I start thinking about warm woolen mittens and find myself rushing to the yarn store after work to get there before it closes.

I started out with a cardigan for my niece and then decided to go big. I decided to try and make a sweater for myself. This isn't my first sweater, in college I made a cardigan and started another that is still unfinished. But the problem with sweaters is the fit. Baby sweaters are fun because they're fast. You can knit them and reknit them and it's not such a big deal. And it doesn't hurt that everything is cuter when it's smaller.

I've been eying patterns for a while now and have quite a collection piled up in my favorites on Ravelry. But one in particular has been nagging at me. It just so happens to be the first thing I ever put in my favorites. It's so popular that it has become a right-of-passage of sorts.

O w l s: The pattern is available on the designer, Kate Davies website here.

I started it a week ago and have been knitting and reknitting all week. It's knitting up quickly (thank heaven for chunky yarn) and I think it's going to turn out nicely. But I'm taking my time and altering the pattern a bit as I go to make sure that it's going to fit me well in the end. Like I said, that's the problem with sweaters.

preparing for general conference

In years past, I've embarked on intense training programs and set lofty goals of reviewing all the talks from the past conference on the week before the next. But this time, I just couldn't do it. It's not that I don't have the time, I have loads of time these days but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. In lieu of my traditional pre-conference read-a-thon, I've been thinking, taking inventory of my life and exploring my options. Because, this stage of my life is a gift - a gift I didn't ask for, a gift I didn't prepare for. But it's a gift, for which I am immensely grateful and intent on using. So here I sit, pondering this gift that I don't even quite understand and comes with great responsibility and unknown possibilities. 

So this weekend, while listening to conference, I'll be knitting* and pondering what I'm going to do with the rest of my life**.




* Some traditions are sacred, more about my new knitting project later.
 
** I was recently fortunate to attend a fireside-of-sorts with Elder Bednard. And he said, "It wasn't until I was called to be an apostle that I knew what I was going to do with the rest of my life." I paraphrase, but it was kind of refreshing to realize that its something we all have to do - deciding what to do with our lives and it isn't something that we do once but continually throughout our lives.

showing off

Indulge me with another round of Show and Tell.  Months ago, I posted some pictures of a dress that I was working on for my niece. here.

Well, that got frogged (taken apart/unraveled, for those of you unschooled in knitting lingo) because it was looking much too huge for a baby that wasn't even born yet and I feared the skirt was all wrong.  

But using that same yarn and adapting the pattern a bit, I came up with this:

A dress/tunic much more fitting for a tiny baby.  

And a tiny baby, she has turned out to be.

I finished it just in time for my visit and when I left, I wondered if she'd ever grow big enough to fit into what I had thought was a very tiny dress.  But, her mother has informed me that she has worn it and I'm awaiting pictures.  

Until then, I'll indulge you with some close ups.

Close-ups of the dress that is, I hope you weren't expecting more pictures of the baby.

I found this button in my Mom's sewing box and I love it so much.

I think that it probably came from my Grandma's button collection.

I never knit anything just once

We've had a fair bit of downtime at work lately - which means I'm likely to rejoin the ranks of the unemployed again in the near future.  But despite the associated anxiety, this downtime has afforded me lots of quality knitting time.  

I'm working on this most adorable dress for my niece.  Did I mention that I became an Aunt over the weekend?  I'm pretty psyched about it - both the baby and the dress, but mostly the baby. 

So after a week of knitting, the dress is almost finished and I am oh so tempted to frog the whole thing and start over.  It's just that I think that I gauged the gauge wrong and I wish I had made the smaller size, and I sort of goofed early on and never fixed it because I thought it might be a happy accident, and now I'm not so sure.  I am reminded of how much I dislike knitting sweaters - you knit and you knit, row upon row and you're almost done before any real shaping takes place and it's not til you're done that you know what you're getting.  Alas, I never knit anything just once, why should this be any exception.  

My co-worker asked about what I was making the other day, and after watching me knit for a few hours said, "I think that I'd just buy something." To which I replied, "Yeah." 

I don't expect him to understand my brand of crazy, I hardly understand it myself.

A year or so ago, I bought 2 skeins of this:

 

I just couldn't help myself - I mean, it's GORGEOUS! And I was sure that I could find something to do with it.  Well, sometimes love just isn't enough.  And gorgeous yarn without a pattern is just a lovely skein in my stash. 

Thankfully, through the wonders of Ravelry, I found this pattern.  And turned one of these lovely skeins into a beautiful scarf for my Mom.  (Yes, this is in fact another story about unfinished Christmas gifts.)

I lament that scarfs are so difficult to photograph, because try as I might, my pictures just don't give it justice. 

I put this in the mail this week, along with Abbey's mittens.  And with that I officially succeeded in accomplishing one of my New Year's resolutions before the end of January.

warm woollen mittens

Abbey Dearest, your mittens are ready.

I did something really tacky this last Christmas.  I gave my Mom and my sister unfinished gifts.  (Apparently, this is something my Grandma was famous for, so maybe it's genetic or at the very least, it's comforting to know that I am in such good company.) 

 

 These lovely mittens were placed in a box and wrapped with the knitting needles still in them and nary a thumb on Christmas Eve.  And I took them right back as soon as they were opened for finishing. 

I think that I was a little over ambitious to think that I could possibly finish them for Christmas, with all their lovely little cables.  I bought the yarn (wish I remembered the name of it, I love it so) on sale a week before Christmas with no idea of what I'd do with it.  I loved the pinky-red color and fell even deeper in love with it when I started to knit it - it's fabulous! And the pattern was really fun, though I altered it a bit (I just can't leave anything alone).  The pattern can be found here and here. 

Two of my new years resolutions this year were to finish my Christmas presents and take more pictures, and it looks as though I'm off to a good start.