Guess what else comes in 2's

Okay - it's easy - socks! But unlike mittens they
take twice as long 'cause the

yarn is skinnier - if that's even a word?!

Now way back in time I came to St. Louis to attend a wedding - like 9 or 10 years ago! We stayed at the Frontenac and had a super time. But I was bored and wanted to see the city and of course I needed some yarn to remember the trip by. The hubby looked in the phone book and found this place downtown. So off we went - we ended up parking in a dark lot (read scary) and cutting between two buildings (read scarier - after all we're from the middle of nowhere Wisconsin) and then went in a building and up some stairs to the Optical Section. But low and behold there was more yarn than glasses! Everyone was super nice and I walked out with two big bags of yarn - mostly sock! I was happy - the hubby only grumbled a little - and off we went back home! And yes it was a lovely wedding - and even more surprising - THEY'RE STILL MARRIED - TO EACH OTHER!

Now we actually live in St. Louis and I've been accepted to do a show at John Burroughs School on November 21st and 22nd! And as luck would have it - I still had some of that wonderful - OPTICAL - sock yarn still hanging around! So come visit me dontchaknow!

And for the technically minded - pair one was knit using Regia Stretch Color - pair two was used using Regia Jacquard - and I used almost all of two balls per pair on a US size 2 needle. I cast on 56 stitches - did a K2, P2 cuff for 1.5 inches - then straight stitch until piece measured 7.5 inches. Did a heel of K1, Slip1, followed by Slip1 purl to the end of the row over 28 stitches and 30 rows. Turned my heel, and finished to the toes depending on size of foot.

Mittens come in 2's

When I do mittens I have a series of "blanks" that I've used over the years. They fit me and members of my family and I did them in Excel. From there I just plug patterns I found interesting from different books, or techniques, or just from doodles on graph paper. You can make them as complicated or simple as the wearer dictates. Now I remember why I don't like to make mittens - 'cause you have to make 2! These are all stash busters - none have been blocked yet - and all are knit in wool, even the little bitty ones are super wash merino (which by the way I will never to a gusseted thumb for a 3 year old again, talk about futzy)

I've been far less productive than usual since sickness has invaded my men folk - and after holding strong for most of the month I have succumbed to it too...but at least the beastie went back to school today - cause nothing is worse then a sick mom with a healthy beastie stuck together in a house!

NO - My Needles Don't Smolder....

So someone asked me today if my needles smoldered! No they most definitely do not. I'm however at a time in my life that allows - nay - demands lots of knitting. I have no wee ones at home as Ms. Betty says, as a matter of fact he spends most of his day either at school or playing sports! I also have a hubby who's on the road - this means I sit up some nights with the Wonder Dog listening to sounds from the back yard! So as my Ravelry account says - I knit at football, hockey, golf, cello, during the day and during the night. This makes me look rather productive - but it leaves my house in utter turmoil - but we like it that way!

The blue/violet/green/royal mittens are a combination of slightly modified stitch patterns from Charts for Colour Knitting by Alice Starmore, the thumb and cuff are actually the same pattern but the thumb is turned sideways! I used the braided cuff from Latvian Mittens by Lizbeth Upitis, and the back was something I goofed out using graph paper and eventually charted in Excel! The hubby has been telling me about a new site that allows you to share charts - kindda like Flickr for photo's. If I ever figure out how to do it - or someone who's had experience figures out how to do this and PM's me I'll be happy to share this one if anyone's interested.

Now the Pink/Purple and creamy colored ones are also a combination of patterns - the front is from the book Selbuvoter by Terri Shea - but I don't like knitting gussets so instead - changed the sizing, changed the back, put in an after thought thumb from EZ's book Knitting Around, added a ruffle from Latvian Mittens, and the cuff is from a book in my stash called Small Sweaters by Lize Kolstad & Tone Takle. I really liked how they came out - even if they are really girlie!

Yes I can knit a mitten a day - but there are also days when no knitting gets done, like today! On day's like today I spend my time driving - almost 4 hours today alone! And poor beastie is sick and just wants soup - which may rhyme with nupps - but is much harder to make, and far less enjoyable!

Warm Woolen Mittens

Once upon a time I could whip out mittens
without even thinking about it, I mean in the dark while watching a hockey game on a pond in the glow of the headlights of a truck...but then we moved from the frozen north down here to St. Louis. My kid is still wearing shorts in December 'cause "It's not cold enough for jeans yet"! And I stopped making mittens and started knitting lace....

So now that I've set the scene...I get a call from the beastie's school - if I can run by with a couple of samples the jury for their show in November will be there and would consider me for entry. Which is funny cause there'd been talk of this for a while but nothing definitive. So I grab some samples and hustle over. I throw in lace scarves, and shawls and shawl pins and as an after thought a sample of mittens and socks. So they say the lace is lovely but what they'd really like to see......more MITTENS!

So I run home and pull out "Charts for Colour Knitting" by Alice Starmore. I got this book years ago and I've always had good luck with it - and this pair of mittens fairly jumped from the "Eastern" section of the book onto my needles. But then a funny thing happened - I've been knitting lace for 3 years and my fingers didn't cooperate with my brain and it took me forever to finish the first mitten. The beastie was right - I had become a "One Trick Pony"! I wonder what else I've forgotten how to do...cables...beading...sweaters.......

Really Red

How's that song go - it's either midnight blue or cherry red? It's definitely cherry red!!!This is the Sophia pattern from the new book Haapsalu Sall! I used an all over knitted on edging from Nancy Bush's Estonian Lace Knitting! Final dimensions 10 inches x 60 inches, and used approximately 45 grams of fiber. The fiber is a 2/28 blend from colourmart - it was 60% merino/20% silk/20% cashmere! It had great color retention (considering reds bleed like crazy) no knots or joins in the cone and great stitch definition. I used a US size 4 needle, although I think I may go down to a size 3 next time...let me know what you think! I'm going to have a hard time giving this one up! It will be going to the beastie-boy's school for an auction in November!

ColourMart 2/28 Cashmere

Okay - earlier this year in a fit of self pity and loathing I hit the ColourMart site - 'cause no matter what's eating you (or you're eating) cashmere has medicinal properties. I got this cone of green called Artichoke. It's my favorite shade of mossy green with a hint of yellow. I also got a copy of Haapsalu Saal! Happy dance, love this book, so many stitches, so little time. So knitted up a panel and added a "Modern" edging from Nancy Bush's book Estonian Lace Knitting and here's a scarf. The boy beastie says it's "Grinch Green" which I guess is okay since it's holiday knitting. It looks very much like the Queen Silvia shawl I already did, but the Saal book has variations on the stitch pattern which is kindda cool!




Technical stuff - used 50 grams of 2/28 cashmere. Used US size 3 needles, and was happy with the results. DID NOT go up a needle size when I did the edging. DID NOT slip the first stitch of each row, instead did 3 stitches of garter at the beginning and end. Liked picking up in the bars better than the slipped stitch. I love the way the cashmere blooms in the nupps - they look like little peas!

Then I bought these cute little bags that come with a sachet of lavender from my friend CarolP! Now I have a perfect gift - and it's already "wrapped" and the lavender should keep MOTHRA at bay! And did I mention that she's also made me several "Lace" keeper bags! I'll try to get shots next time I've got an empty one! Now before y'all yell at me again - these items are not on her webpage - you'll have to beg, or whine (whining always helps - she has kids!) or blackmail (not likely cause she's nice) or just try dropping her a note on her site - she'll get back to you! Or she'll kill me on Monday when I see her at the Ladies of Lucerne Knitting group that meets at the Straub's on the corner of Clayton and Clarkson (between 1 & 4)!!!

IBOL

Okay - the boy beastie has finally gone back to school! Oh my gosh - I spent an average of 4 hours a day - 5 days a week driving to...golf...hockey...football...martial arts...weight training and conditioning...and occasionally I sneaked in the rare moment of knitting! Seems that his workout plan works much better than mine - but then again if I did his workout I'd be DEAD and chubby!

So I'm sitting around reading at around 1 am this morning and found this site. It's called Iraqi Bundles of Love (IBOL). Now there's not much time to participate, but check it out and respond by SEPTEMBER 8th! That's the last day you can ship and have it arrive on time. Seems the guy actually gets to leave his current assignment soon - and packages mailed after September 8th will be returned. Yes there is no ship info on my blog - the man requests that you leave him a comment on his blog page and he'll in turn respond to you personally and tell you where to ship.

Click this link - IBOL

As to knitting - well there will be a ton of pictures but here are two that I've got right now. The pastel on top is one of mine and the darker one is from Birgit Freyer and it's called Imaginary. Both are knit using JoJoland fibers! And did I mention that my new copy of Haapsula stitch patterns just arrived? Must finish current projects - Must Finish current projects - MUST FINISH!!!