Just to balance out the sh*t list.

First I gotta mention banff and sooty mango, my two favoritest sweaters of all, which by the way were both results of major reknitting (I cut the ribbing off of sooty mango and reknit it and banff was knit out of the yarn from a failed cardigan!).

Next, these socks, one of the first pairs I ever knit. The recipient recently hinted that she would love a couple more pairs just like them. When they ask for more, it's definitely a hit!

Finally, there's nothing like adorable babies to restore your faith in your knits.

Happy baby in daisy sweater.

Happy baby in mya sweater.

And it's not technically a KNIT hit, but I get a kick out of this recently finished (and now pompon-ed) crocheted beret that I made for charity. B. let me take his picture wearing it, but made me promise that he could see the picture when it was done. When he looked at the picture, he immediately smiled and said, "hey look, it's my blankie!" See the little bit of it in the corner?

We have a winner! The biggest knit hits of all have got to be my very first projects, the baby blankies for my boys.

I love knitting.

I finally finished my blue bliss scarf and she's just so lovely. This one seems even softer than orange bliss did. Here's the whole winter blue set.

Since blue bliss is so lovely, I decided to try my hand at redoing the seam on those blue mittens. It was a beautiful, invisible seam, but a bit bulky, so I figured it was worth a try. I tried out the "knitted stitch" seam from Montse Stanley's Knitter's Handbook. It's done like duplicate stitch and creates a column of new stitches joining the edges. It was definitely what I was looking for but I still liked the look of the mattress stitch better. So back it went. A half stitch seam allowance, as written, will be good enough for me.

Did I mention that my blue bliss scarf is soooooo lovely?

My blue mittens are complete. The gifted mittens pattern was very well-written and lots of fun to do, but I did make a few changes. I made the cuff like an inch and a half longer - I like long cuffs! I picked up stitches and did a three-needle bind off to seam up the thumb instead of doing the crochet seam. And next time, I'd just snip the yarn and use a regular mattress stitch (I'm not a fan of an exposed seam). I also reversed the shapings on the top of the mittens. Again just personal preference. I like right-leaning decreases on the right and left-leaning on the left. Just me! And finally, I finished off the top with kitchener stitch like at the end of a sock.

It's a great straight-forward pattern for fiddling with. And boy, did I like knitting the mittens flat! It made them go soooo fast. But (my only real issue with this pattern) a seam inside a bulky-gauged mitten is annoying. I've got to look into another seaming method that doesn't leave a half-stitch seam allowance inside. There's a way, I'm sure! Despite the silly seam, they fit great and are fun to wear.

And they match my blue hat (that I made two years ago) perfectly! This is no surprise as they are both done in Phildar Polaire, a wonderfully warm and soft wool/acrylic blend. I'm glad I decided to rip out the blue scarf I had made with my extra Polaire and turn it into the mittens. I'm thinking it's better that the hat and mittens are in the blend yarn and the new scarf is in the to-die-for cashmerino superchunky. I was briefly tempted to buy more of the cashmerino for the mittens (that is what the pattern calls for) and even more for a matching hat, but then I thought hats and mittens are really like the worker bees of the winter set. They're exposed to all the harsh elements and have to be really warm and resiliant. They're about the cold. A scarf is more about comfort and style. It's about me!

Uh, yeah, the scarf's not done yet. I'm saving it for a knit-while-the-boys-are-playing-quitely moment. Haven't had any of those in a while. But I have been wearing the hat and mittens anyway. I even wore them this morning to the big semi-annual sale at Wild & Wooly in Lexington (at last year's sale I picked up the yarn that became the boys' weasley sweaters). As always I was there when they opened at 7am! Pics of the loot to come tomorrow....

A blue bliss is underway!

I'd almost forgotten that I had these two balls of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Superchunky in the stash. I had originally planned to make a crocheted scarf with them, but that was before my orange bliss scarf. When I remembered them, I had to pull them out and make a blue version. Why didn't I think to make a blue bliss earlier? Especially considering that all of my hats and gloves are blue? Well, apparently I already made a ribbed blue scarf to match my blue hat. What should I do with that? No problem!

I'll turn it into mittens (and give that gifted mittens pattern that everyone's crazy for a try).

One left. I should be done in time for the next snow!

Thanks to Santa hubby, who took the boys to a giant indoor playspace this weekend (here they are running past the "do not run" sign!), the elves got lots more holiday knitting done.

First another pair of Morehouse Merino bear paws mitts, these for a little friend of the boys.

And then a finished pressie for mom. Mom, STOP reading now please.

everyone but mom, click to peek!

What I hope will finally be the perfect hat for my mom. I've made mom a couple of hats before. She liked the first, but it was too small for her hair. The second was bigger but I made it on the fly with some leftover yarns when I heard that she wasn't wearing a hat at all! But see, she's got this purple coat (another even longer story) that she seems destined never to get rid of and the green hat didn't really go with it. So while at the craft store picking up the wire to make the weasley hangers I saw a poor "orphan" skein of purple Homespun sitting by the cash register. I took it as a sign that I should simply give in and make mom a giant purple hat. I think I've succeeded there. To be sure it was big enough, I knitted it on 24" circulars in the round! That should be enough ease for almost any perm, yes?

And progress was also made on mom's jess.

no peeking, mom!

Back's all done and I'm working on the huge, drapey collar. This sweater is so cool. Now I remember why mom and I decided that we HAD to have one!

3 days to finish this and the weasleys. The elves are making coffee.

It's time for my hat class again, so I gotta make myself a hat. I wanted to make one to go with my new orange bliss scarf, but I can't afford any more of that Cashmerino Superbulky. And I'm all about using up leftovers now, you know? So I pulled out all the orange leftovers in my stash.

The top right one matches my scarf the best, but that's all I've got of it, so I grabbed some Cascade 220 in a neutral gray to use for lower part of the hat. The boys helped me wind the Cascade into a ball. They love the swift and ball winder!

I cast on with my students and knit a bit. Then I realized, I've got holiday knitting to do. I can't be spending time knitting a hat for myself!

Another peek into Santa's knitting factory. Mom, you'll have to sit this one out again!

again, if you're NOT mom, click on the present for a peek

The elves here are dying to tell you about the fabulous cashmere they've been using to make a scarf for mom. Mom picked out the yarn at Habu a while back, but the yarn gave no gauge suggestions, and the pattern was left open. The elves started out with moss stitch on US7's, but that proved to be too textural and prevented the softness of the cashmere from coming out. Stockinette on US8's was much yummier to the touch, but curled way too much for a scarf. At knitting group, the elves spotted the awesome scarf that Colleen was wearing. It was simple garter stitch, but it had flattened out so nicely that it looked more like the extended garter stitch at the top of the Klaralund sleeves. Very pretty. So, the elves decided to go up one more needle size and use the extended garter stitch for the scarf. And now it's perfect. The single garter stitch row repeated every four rows provides just enough of a horizontal line to keep the scarf from completely curling up, and it also leaves just enough stockinette that the feel of the cashmere isn't lost. If only you could touch it.

And that's not the only cashmere the elves are working on in the present factory.

more cashmere socks!

The elves will definitely be asking Santa for more cashmere this Christmas.

Okay, a couple of people have asked for specifics on my new orange scarf so here's the "411".

Yarn: 2 balls Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Superchunky
Needles: US11
Finished Measurements: approx. 45" long x 5" wide (unblocked ribbing)

Cast on 22 stitches. Work in 2x2 rib, beginning and ending first row with K2. Continue in rib until you have about 3 feet of yarn left. Bind off loosely in rib. Weave in ends.

This scarf is so soft! I must have rubbed a dozen or so skeins of yarn against my neck to find one I'd really enjoy wearing in a scarf. I picked up Karabella Aurora Bulky, Rowan Polar, Reynolds Blizzard, Cascade 220 superwash, all in fabulous oranges, and Rowan Big Wool and Brown Sheep Burly Spun in neutrals. They all failed the neck test. The only things I found that were softer that the DB Cashmerino were Aiko Cashmere and Cape Cod kettle dyed cashmere. Both felt incredible and were in the perfect orange. Luckily I'd already bought the Cashmerino, otherwise I'd have been walking all the way back to Boston. In my $200 scarf!

It's gotten cooooold here in Boston. This means two things re my garter stitch mitts.

1) I've had the opportunity to wear my fingerless mitts and I can make some conclusions about them. Despite the early wristbrace vibes, I really like how they look (I especially like the short-row shaping) and how they feel. They're comfortable and, surprisingly to me, they do keep my hands and fingers warm enough. They perfect for a short walk holding the boys' hands or for keeping my hands cozy in the car while holding the cold steering wheel. But although my fingers are warm enough, my thumb is a bit chilly. If I make more mitts, I'll probably switch to Bonne Marie's voodoo wrist warmers or Midnight Knitter's mittenettes, both with thumb gussets.

2) No playground knitting. So I've made absolutely no progress on the second pair of bear paws. Thus, no cute photos of boys in mitts today. Instead, I give you 'boys playing Dora Candyland'.

I'm so proud of myself for having made so many of my recent projects with stash yarn. I'd had the yarn for my secret project (all finished and to be revealed this winter!) for over a year. The yarn for the pop sweater almost exactly a year. The leftover yarn for the foxy beret for two years. And the felted tweed for the weasley sweaters was purchased in January. I'm goooood.

Too good, in fact. I blame my recent success in using up stash for some of my hesitation to buy more yarn at Rhinebeck. Another repercussion: I can't leave the house without spending several minutes trying to decide which hat to bring with me - foxy beret? one of the aura lace caps? a wool hat? what about the boys? - that's right, too many accessories! My recent interest in accessories was inspired by my desire to deal with my ever growing stash and leftover skeins from old projects. I have hats and scarves aplenty now and still can't help but see the bag of project remnants as the makings of more accessories. To this end, I bought the new book Scarf Style. The scarves are fabulous and the ideas really inspirational. I'm not even really a scarf person. But I've got to get rid of this stash! My favorite and a definite must-knit is the super funky sleeved scarf/shrug by Teva Durham. Gotta dig through the stash and see what I've got that I can make it out of and then find some 12" circs somewhere. Anyone ever use those crazy little things before?

But first I need to finish those mitts. Got the second pair of fingerless mitts for me done last week at the playground. I knit these a bit looser than the first pair (gauge swatch, what's that?) and really like the way they came out.

Other stash-busting accessories on the fall/winter to-do list:
bear paws mitts - second pair still in the works
another foxy beret - this one in some stashed felted tweed
a purse or two - Cascade 220 still burning a hole in the stash basket
berets for the boys - must knit old Classic Elite Waterspun into cute hats
candy cane and cashmere scarves for ma - she picked out the yarn
many many socks - 4, possibly 6, pairs before Xmas!

The boys and I made it out to Circles knitting salon in Jamaica Plain for the Friday afternoon moms & kids knitting circle. The boys played in the playroom while I fondled all the yarns and asked myself why it had been so long since I'd been here. I was again very tempted by the awesome selection of Karabella yarns. And there was also the beautiful green Tahki Soho yarn that fellow Knitsmith Colleen is working with right now. But I ended up with one giant skein of Brown Sheep's Burly Spun yarn in black.

maybe a purse, maybe the beginnings of a sweater?

I have to thank Kate and Susan for getting me back over to Circles again. Kate was visiting Boston and she and Susan were doing a yarn crawl through all the various local stores and invited me to come along. I had such fun chatting and shopping with them, that I almost forgot about the kids' swim class! Great yarn, good knitbuddies, bad mommy.

One pair of bear paws and one pair of fingerless mitts. What fun!

one more pair of each to go

I'm trying to convince myself that my mitts don't look like burgundy wrist braces. I still wear my wrist brace occassionally at night to prevent any more wrist soreness and the similarity to these fingerless mitts is a little disturbing. But I will go ahead and make a second pair in, you guessed it, blue. I can't resist. The pattern is so neat and they only take about an hour to make.

The bear paws mitts keep sending me into paroxysms of "they're so cuuuuute!". The boys, however, weren't that impressed until I put the claws on, but now they think they're pretty funny. Maybe someday they'll like them as much as the $3 a pair of gloves I got them at Target. They're too big and have "hip" skater designs on them that I wouldn't have chosen, but the boys just loved them. B puts them on and then reaches out like he's a monster, saying "crrrraaaaaaaazy hands".

gloves and pajamas

I think next year's Halloween costume is going to have to involve unbelievably cute mittens.

I started the bear paws mitts kit that I got in Rhinebeck. And they are sooooo cute.

no claws yet

These Morehouse Merino patterns are really clever. This one is easy to make and takes advantage of simple techniques to make the mitten efficiently with little sewing. A lot of garter stitch, a little three needle bind off and it's practically done!

It's made me want to make some for myself. So I pulled out Weekend Knitting and some GGH Via Mala I bought on sale for the fingerless mitts and got started. When they're all done, they'll be perfect to wear while knitting at the playground, which is where I've been knitting them anyway.

one done, one to go

Garter stitch mitts and red sox for everyone!

First my resurrected pooling scarf....

Morehouse Merino + US5 +34st. = pooling scarf

And now the Red Sox.

curse over

Next up, election day.

visualize winning here

I started my morehouse merino variegated mini muffler and guess what happened? (Now remember, this project was meant to substitute for my failed pooling colors scarf.)

IT POOLED! All on its own. I cast on according to pattern (note, this pattern is written for solid color yarns and not for the variegated yarns), did two rows, and damn if it didn't just line up. COOOOL!

A.K.A., the pooling scarf.

I've been frustrated in my six or seven attempts to get the pooling started with the Schaefer Anne yarn. In additon to this major sticking point, the gauge is not so enticing, the lace isn't wowing me and the thing is supposed to be about a mile long! These are the reasons that the pooling scarf has become my big fat obnoxious project. I'm saying it here in case any other knitalongers were holding back expressing their lack of faith or genuine hatred of this project. You're not alone!

Although I love the colors of the Anne yarn, even deciding to use it in a different pattern doesn't solve the gauge and length issues. I want something thicker, warmer, shorter. Enter Morehouse Merino's mini-muffler pattern. Very simple rib pattern, short scarf just enough to keep the neck warm, and that wonderfully soft merino yarn. The variegated skein that I bought at Rhinebeck is in similar colors as the Anne yarn I bought for the pooling scarf. This will be a nice replacement for that project. Much more do-able (I've got an accessory a week plan here!) and wearable for me.

mmmm, mmmm, morehouse merino

So how are the rest of you all doing out there? I see that Karen is having great success! And Kate has shared her progress in an admirable attempt to motivate us slackers in the knitalong to get started again. I'm so proud of you girls for getting this to work!!

I, however, will have to hop out of the pool for now. But not without a small reward. Here at potty-training 3-year-olds central, we like to reward all good faith attempts. Pee-pee in the potty gets you one big gummybear letter and a good try will get you one little gummybear. So one little gummybear for me. Also in line for a small gummybear for effort are Jackie and Theresa.

which one do you get?

Hey, those of you not trying to make the pooling scarf, what's your big fat obnoxious project?

We had gorgeous weather yesterday, so you know we had to go out to the button store! I quickly found a button to match the pink in the pop sweater.

But finding a suitable button for my cat scarf proved more difficult. The boys were very patient, entertaining themselves with a huge table full of buttons and little boxes. It was like a sandbox of buttons! Still I had such a hard time finding a button that I liked that I was seriously considering this look for a while. Then I spotted this button and it was good.

click here for big view

Cat scarf complete. Mission accomplished!

*anyone else out there obsessed with watching poker on tv like me. I can't get enough of it!

Next accessory on the needles, my Cat scarf. I couldn't resist my fabulous and fluffy Cat yarn anymore.

you have to touch this yarn!

I used this basic buttonhole scarf pattern from Phildar's fall 2004 mag, so I need a big, giant fun button to finish off the scarf. I've got plans to hit Windsor Button this week to hunt down the perfect one.

This scarf is so soft and wonderful that it mades me smile just to be knitting it. I have to credit one of my sons for convincing me to go ahead and start it. While we were trying to cheer the boys up at Friendly's after a rough day, S told me that once his milk arrives, "then I happy". Who knew it was so simple! Later, when I was packing my knitting bag, I thought "I make this scarf, then I happy".

Grin.

before I became a knitter, I used to read books

I finished my calmer lace cap! This is such a great pattern. I've made three of these so far and with some calmer still in my stash, I don't think it'll be my last. This one matches my red fall coat perfectly. Now I'm all set for fall, except for some gloves, which I will have to buy. I'm not up for making matching gloves right now. Too many fingers.

That's what I love about hats - no fingers.

extreme closeup

PS - I did finally get the lace to work out correctly in the round. I know it's probably just me being a bit daft not getting it at first, but in case it will help any others out there who might be thinking of converting this pattern, here's what I did. I cast on two fewer stitches (those that would have been seamed together), and started the hat off with garter stitch in the round. Then when the lace begins, just do the parts in the **'s. But do the whole thing in **'s, don't forget the yo at the beginning or the yo at the end, otherwise you'll mess up your stitch count and start to lose the lovely lace pattern above the join.

PPS - For anyone else thinking about making this cap, I should mention that I think the size as written is rather large, especially since calmer, being cotton, will stretch. I used US7's and 86 stitches and it fits my head nice and snug.

First I was all about making the little foxy beret and now my calmer aura cap is well underway.

This time I'm doing the aura cap in the round. The pattern calls for it to be knitted flat and seamed up the back and the first two I made were done that way. But this time, I went ahead and bought myself the proper sized needle and set about attempting the little lace pattern in the round. I'm not convinced that I'm getting the first and last stitches correct, but it sure doesn't look any worse than a big seam in the middle of lace!

I got this calmer on sale at Downtown Yarns last time I was in NY. At the time, I'd wished that there was more stock left, but now I'm glad that I only got one ball. I am finding it so fun to make these quick projects. So far I'm at a hat a week. Next up is possibly my Cat scarf, my crochet scarf, one of the two scarves I'm making for my mom, or gloves for the boys. It's getting cold fast up here in these parts. Time for the accessories!

[I'm late posting today, cause I was out early having fun with the boys this morning. Pictures tomorrow!]

Ooh la la! It's my stripey kid classic foxy beret. I love it, although the colors don't really go with any of my winter outerwear. But, hey, let's not think about that. Let's look at how cool it looks from the top.

Next up, another aura lace cap, this time in the calmer yarn called for in the original pattern. Yum....

Much fun with boys = very little knitting = weak blog weekend. But now the blog is back on!

First, the only knitting I have to show from the last few days - the start to my foxy beret. (Knitting up these leftovers has reminded me how much I love this rowan kid classic yarn. Why do I not have more of this in my stash? Must remedy that....) It's actually almost done now, but I haven't had a moment to snap a pic of it since I took this one a few days ago.

My camera, usually full of knitting pics, is instead full of a week's worth of fundays with the boys. Some sample pics:

my first krispy kremes

at Davis' Mega Maze

boys a-blur at the arboretum

Behold, Rowan kid classic leftovers from the hotties (hot water bottle covers) that I made for my great aunts. I love this yarn and these two colors together and have been waiting for a reason to make myself a beautiful something-or-other with them. A new beginner's knitting class seemed like a perfect opportunity. Since the beginner's class is a hat class, every new class means a new hat for me, but I'm getting tired of making the same old hat every time. So while my students make my beginner's hat, I'll be knitting this "foxy beret" pattern (Rowan's name) I found free online to Rowan members. I'll be doing the beret in narrow stripes like the scarf (I'm actually planning on making that scarf for my mom with some Manos Stria that I bought on my last NYC trip - soon....).

The name "hotties" brought my blog so many interesting hits (see this post) that you know I gotta keep the "foxy" name for this project. It is the same yarn, after all. These four balls of kid classic sure are causing a commotion!

I finished my little cashmere something something prezzie and finally started the Anne pooling scarf pattern. Did anyone get it to work?

I think my colors are too subtle to see much striping, although at least it's not too obvious when the colors get off a bit. Perhaps after a few inches the color differences will become more apparent. I do like it though. Onward, swim!

Can anyone else in the pool recommend a good online source for the Schaefer Anne yarn? Some of the knitalongers are having a hard time finding it. Thanks!

All set for a kamikaze knitalong born during my recent trip to NYC.

I'm such an IK girl!

While we were shopping last weekend, Jenn suggested we pick up some handpainted yarn and try out Interweave Knits pooling colors scarf. We all know that I don't like variegated yarns, but I do love stripes. So if you got a way to turn beautiful handpainted yarn into stripes, I'm there! I picked a skein of Schaefer Anne that has subtle red shades, just in case I can't get the pooling colors to work, it'll still be something I could handle. Jenn has her yarn and Jackie has some Schaefer Anne on the way and will be joining us shortly. Anyone else in??

And just because I missed them so much while I was gone, I ambushed the boys with the camera when I got back.

  
don't these cuties deserve another handknitted sweater?