The Mittens and An Anniversary Present for Me

Ok, as promised, here are the mittens I made for HB.

Aren't they cool? HB LOVES them. I am so glad. I made some cashmere fingerless mitts to wear over them or inside of them so that he can use them for ice fishing. Unfortunately when I told him that is what I made the mittens and liners for he gave me a horrified look and said, "I will NOT wear these ice fishing! It would ruin them! I will wear them for driving. And when I am not wearing them for driving they should be framed and put on the wall for art." He is so silly!

The pattern is one I bought on Ravelry. They are called "Fisherman's Mittens". The Son put in his order for a pair as soon as he saw his dad's. So, I will be making more--sometime.

I have learned two valuable lessons while making these mittens.

1. Always keep the finished mitten with you when you go to make the second mitten. This will hopefully keep you from making two "Right Hand" mittens. (Hege will appreciate this info.) I made the mistake of leaving the first "Right Hand" mitten at home while I worked on the other one in the car, at appointments, etc. BIG MISTAKE! Only after completely finishing the second mitten and presenting them to HB did I realize I had made two "Right Hand" mittens. Swearing and name calling (at the, and of the mittens) ensued. I WAS SO MAD (insanely angry) at myself. I recovered though and managed to make a "Left Hand" mitten.

2. Use the best possible short "finger" knitting needles you can buy! I have tried several different types and brands. Finally, I found some made by Skacel--Addi the other day in Blazing Needles. THE BEST! Making the thumb is my least favorite knitting thing to do--even less favorite than hand sewing, and you all know how much I hate that! These needles were PERFECT, even better than all of the wooden and bamboo ones I have tried. As a result, I may make that second pair for The Son.

Anyway, with that said, this was my anniversary present:

I realize that most of you out there are saying, "Oh boy" (heavy sarcastic inflection here). Actually, if you look closely at the second picture you will see why HB bought them for me. See the selection of washing cycles? "Washable Wool" is on there. HB, knowing that I love superwash wool so much that I have actually written a poem called, "Ode to Superwash Wool", he thought that I would find that cycle especially wonderful. And he was right!! Someone at GE obviously has a knitter in their life! Who else, besides a knitter or someone close to a knitter, would think to put a "Washable Wool" cyle in a washing machine. The dryer also has a retractable rack that you can lay various (meaning socks, sweaters, etc) on to "air dry" quickly without felting them. YEAH ME! He also bought me a whole bucket (basket, huge bag, barrel, whatever large container you can think of) of some of my favorite yarns. Ya, that's why I married him.

Well, now that I have made all of you knitters jealous.......Happy knitting!

Etc, etc, etc

Wow, thank you so much for all of your kind words of encouragement. You will probably never know how much it has meant to me. Things have not improved--in fact my son hurt his shoulder really bad at scouts Wednesday night--but it just helps so much to know people care about me. (When you don't have the love of your parents it's very easy to believe that no one should or could care about you).

I don't really feel like writing, but thought I should catch you up on my knitting. I haven't knit much this week because of depression, but last week I did quite a bit. So here are the pictures.

These are some fingerless mitts that worked up so fast I was even surprised when I got done. I literally made them in the duration of a movie. The pattern is "Evangeline" from MagKnits January 2008. I hand-dyed some peruvian worsted weight wool and used the wrist length version of the pattern. Though I am not fond of bright yellow and greens they are still very pretty. The color reminds me of daffodils--and I LOVE daffodils. They are a surprise present for someone. I really hope she likes them!

These are some basic socks I made with some of the yarn I got from Hege in a yarn swap. I love these! especially the colors! I am unusally fond of olive green and tan. Midnight blue is my favorite color, but olive green and tan come in a close second. These will be a birthday present for HoneyBunny.

This is the start of this months Sockamania pattern. It has little lace hearts all up the foot and then on the leg. I am not to the heel part (you knit them starting from the toe). I couldn't resist making them in Valentine red--again, my hand-dyed yarn.

And finally, I began making another pair of fingerless mitts. These are "Dashing" from Knitty: Spring 2007. The yarn is some of my handspun. It's a yarn that I have been so enamored with that I couldn't bring myself to knit it. It is a blend of cashmere, silk, angora, and a little bit of extremely soft, dark chocolate colored wool. These will definately be for me--I get a little possessive with MY yarn. I am so in love with these; the pattern is simple and beautiful, the yarn--I really don't need to comment further on my love for it, and they are working up quickly. When I showed them to HoneyBunny he exclaimed, "Wow! are those for me? I can't wait!" Ummmm NO! I'll think about letting him borrow them, maybe, if he is really nice, does everything the doctors tell him to do, and he gets well and never hurts himself again.

It always improves my mood to talk about knitting. I love knitting and everything it has done and continues to do for me. As silly as it sounds--to those who don't knit or haven't been knitting for many years--knitting is what gets me from one day to the next.

I knit to live and live to knit.

WIP's and the Podcast

My story that is featured on the YarnCraft podcast came out this week and you can listen to it here. I found myself feeling nervous and getting sweaty palms as they introduced it. To think that people all over the world could listen to something I wrote, wow!

Now for the WIP's I promised Monday to post Wednesday, but took off on a joy ride with HoneyBunny instead. First, the mittens I started last night. Now, I already have way to much to do, but these mittens have been harassing me for months to start them. Telling me, "I knit up REALLY fast. I have thrums, which you know you've wanted to try forever. You could make the smallest pair for the neighbors daughter. Etc., etc." So, the lure of a quick and easy project hooked me finally and I found myself half way through this mitten before I even realized that I had cast on. Now I have to make me and my son a pair for our walks to the bus stop in the morning. They will be PERFECT! Who ever thought of thrums should win the nobel peace prize or something. WOW! If you don't have a pair of mittens or socks that feature these little items YOU SHOULD! They are the ultimate for warmth!

Second are the Sockamania socks for November. These will be for the daughter for Christmas. I LOVE this pattern. It is officially my new most favorite sock pattern. I am making them out of SWTC's Tofutsies yarn. I don't like pink, but I really like the color pattern of this yarn!

Third project that I am working on this week is the shawl that I started a month ago or so. Now that I have the lace pattern figured out it is going much faster. I really like it! In fact, I am having a hard time deciding whether it should be "Merry Christmas to me" or someone else.

Next, I worked on these the other night when I had had enough of all the other projects and got past the place for the inserted heel and started the foot. Three more inches and a toe then put in the heel and the first of this pair will be done. If I would just sit down and work on them instead of the other 20 projects I am making they would have been done a long time ago. They are for me, though, and I feel like I am savoring every minute of them. They are the most beautiful pair of socks I have made in a long time.

And FINALLY, the last project that I have been working on this week--in fact they are the project I took on my joy ride Wednesday--are the pants for the daughter. Yes, I know they are very GREEN! She loves to wear grass green and looks good in it and even requested that these be this color. So, there they are. I altered the pattern so that the front and back of the leg is knit at the same time. Otherwise there are four leg pieces and you know what that means--hours of handsewn seams. I HATE sewing up seams, especially when things can be knit in the round. I would knit these in the round completely, but I still haven't figured out how to make the crotch area turn out right if I do. Two seams are better than four!

Whew! At least I am not getting bored with any of the projects. There is plenty of variety!

Happy Crazy Knitting!

P. S. Only 39 (40 if you want to count Christmas Day) knitting days until Christmas!

Wednesday's WIP's

With Christmas coming on so quickly I am experiencing a knitting fever. I have cast on four projects just this week.--Now I 'm scaring myself.

First, I got my new Sockamania sock pattern for November. I am loving this pattern! It looks complicated, but it is so easy--easy to knit, easy to memorize the pattern. I am already making plans to cast on another one in some 100% silk yarn that is in the stash. I will have to adjust the pattern a little for it, but I think the Daughter will LOVE them for Christmas (I'll post a pic. when I get it started). For now though. I had some left-over yarn from that sweater that I had finished this summer (the t-shirt). I thought some socks to match would be fun. So, these are being made from "Silky Wool" 65% w00l, 35% silk, on size 2 (US) needles. Fun stuff!!! I wouldn't be able to put it down except for this...........................................

Yes!!!! I FINALLY got a pair of mittens started from the Selbuvotter book. I am loving these!! They are going to be an anonomous Christmas gift for a friend of mine. I am sure she will know who it is when she sees them, but what else would you give someone who loves Norway also? I would love to see her face when she opens them up. I am making them with KnitPicks superwash wool sock weight yarns "Bare" and "EssentialSolid". Is it normal to be in love with a pair of mittens? Don't answer that!

The other projects are the second sock for the Son's Christmas present and a pair of knit pants for the daughter--nothing exciting to take pictures of yet. I have plans to make 5 pairs of socks, a knit pair of pants, a knit hooded vest, and a pair of fingerless gloves for my imediate family for Christmas. Then there is the shawl, mittens, and my super secret project for dear friends for Christmas. Do you think I will get it all done by Christmas? Ya, I doubt it too! Here's hoping!

Happy Knitting!