A Mitten for the New Year

One down!

Scandinavian Spots Mittens

Pre-blocking: 

It was really hard to get the thumb to look decent. I thought about just making it pink or brown, but I told myself to stop being lazy. 

Taking a nice warm sunbath ... such fuzzy yarn! I didn't notice till it was in the sun. 

So I'm going to cast on the left-handed mitten in a few minutes here, and hopefully knock it out before the mitten version of second-sock-syndrome hits. The pattern isn't tricky, just tedious. I love colorwork, so it's a treat, but I won't show you the reverse side. My reverse sides are always pretty ugly!

I leave you with a picture of Spot and Georgie Girl, lazing in the yard on a nice day. 

The doggy is a cat magnet. Cats love her. 

Happy New Year!!

Unraveled.

Well, I did it.

I unraveled this size 2x Bohus that I finished 4 years ago.

It was very satisfying!

Yes, I have a lot of bits of small yarn now, but I am confident I can use them up somehow. Fair Isle, most likely.

I started these Scandinavian Spots Mittens from the "60 Quick Knits using Cascade Yarn" book.

And I'm still knitting on the tunic thingie:

So I have something mindless to knit, and something tedious. Good way to end the year!

Shhhhh .... don't disturb the wild cave kitty.

Unraveling

Once upon a time, I was a size 2X (18).

Castle in Wales ... Newbury? Newton? 2010

I'd always kind of struggled with my weight, but that was primarily because I didn't really try hard to stay in shape, except for the 10 years I was in the military. 

Like too many servicemembers, I just let it go when I got out. 

Anne Hathaway's Cottage, Stratford, England, 2010

It was so much easier to just make excuses and not take care of myself. Size may not matter, but fitness and health do. And I had neither! 

In front of some rocks in Salisbury, England, 2010

Then in 2011, several different things came together, and I decided enough was enough. I started doing this ... 

Navy 5-miler, D.C., 2014

Didn't let the weather stop me.

Baltimore Celtic Solstice, 2013

Iron Girl Half Marathon, 2014

Navy 5-Miler, 2013

Chesapeake Bay Bridge Run, Last Month

So, to get to the point .... I knit this "Bountiful Bohus" in 2010, from "More Big Girls Knit:"

I was so proud of myself for steeking for the first time! 

But ...

Here is how it looks on me now: 

Hmmm. 

I think the only thing to do here is unravel it, and reclaim 9 skeins of lovely Cascade 220 for some other purpose. I don't think I would get much usable out of the colorwork, but I should get at least all 7 skeins of the brown back. The sleeves alone are enormous. 

I'd like to make a skirt, and I think this sweater has more than enough yarn for that. 

So! What do you all think? Have you ever unraveled a large project before? 

We don't care, lady. Is it time to eat yet? 

Knitting on a Cold Winter's Night

Brrr! So chilly now!

Perfect for snuggling up under a wooly blanket and knitting. It's about 30F here now, so about 0C, windy and cloudy. Not a sign of any snow yet!

I don't know if I ever posted a photo of the 2nd Meghan's Braids hat I made, this one for me.

It isn't terribly flattering on me, but it's warm and cute.

I finished a 2nd Textured Tam.  Oh dear. I just realized I've been knitting so long, I've lapped myself and I'm starting over ...

And, the fledgling #27 Striped Tunic, which I am knitting sans stripes.

Well, that's it for me -- time to crawl back under the blanket and pick up the knitting needles. What's everyone else working on? 

A repeat photo, but so cute! 

Back on Track

Ok, I think I'm all right now. I've cast this on:

#27 Striped Tunic  from an old Vogue Knitting. 

I like that a number precedes the pattern. Kind of arty! I shall forgo the stripes, as I don't have other colors of yarn. 

I'm also making another #35 Textured Tam (These are really quick-to-knit hats and very flattering, I think). 

I don't know what happened to my Knitting Kmojo ... it just went on vacation, I guess. I seem to be back on track. Maybe I just needed a break. I got a lot of reading done, anyway.

My mother was very artistic, and always had projects going. Knitting, crocheting, weaving, ceramics ... you name it, she did it, and did it well. Below are two critters she made years ago. The doggie was painted to look like my (long-deceased) doggie Pancho. Pancho was a sort of rat terrier-blue heeler mix. She painted both dog and bunny with an airbrush or something like that. She was very talented.

I poured, cleaned, and painted my share of ceramics, but never anything this masterful. 

Okay, back to knitting and watching the Navy-Army game. 17-7 Navy (of course). 4th quarter, 11:47 on the clock. I couldn't tell you who any of the players are, because I really don't care. I only care that Navy wins! 

You got up. Deal with it. 

Hope you're keeping warm! 

ARGH! I Give Up!

I started this *&$^ sleeveless dress FOUR times. I finally got the size right (I assume) and I knit this much ... and it curls under. Dreadfully. A lot. And I don't think it will be fixed by blocking, because it's a heavy, ribbed fabric. Stretching it out would ruin the pattern and fit.

So .... off it goes. Back to the pattern books. Argh!!! I have 1,260 yards of this yarn. I will find something to do with it.

Right now, this is my knitting:

Just untidy, unfinished projects. ARGH again!!

So here's what I did the other night. I knit this Textured Tam a while back, and I wear it almost exclusively. I love it. The only thing that would make it better would be if it were a bit bigger, as I have a freakishly large head (I had the 2nd largest hat in my boot camp company, and my company was 70 recruits large). So I found an old project, a nice braided cabled hat that I knit and discovered was too small, pulled it apart, and am starting a 2nd Textured Tam. 

The pattern is from Cascade's "Sixty Quick Knits." Love that book!

Today was a rainy horrible mess. I did my errands, then came home, cleaned up, and sat down to make a tiny cup of coffee ...

Can you tell I like red?

Now I'm sitting her with a cat digging her claws into my leg (with affection, I'm sure), and once this blog is writ, I'm going to go knit.










Merry Christmas.

Starting Over Again

Just a quick update ... I've settled (for now) on this sleeveless dress:

I'm still a little unsure about this pattern. I will keep at it a while longer to see if it looks all right. I think I chose poorly with the yarn, though; I'm not going to get crisp, clearly defined stitches with this Patons.

We'll see.

And for those who saw last week's post ... I started with the Medium pattern, but as it progressed it drew together and started to look alarmingly small. I don't like to draw attention to my bust, so I cast on the Large. Just to be safe.



Going to go rest, now ... Just got back from a 6-mile run in a driving wind. Ate a hearty dinner, now I want to just relax a while.

I looked out the window this morning and saw this:

Spot does love her Georgie Girl.

(Spot is the cat.)











Hopefully when I post again I'll have something more exciting!

Finished Object, and a Question for Knitters

The Violeta Cowl has been finished, and blocked!

On a side note, I don't know how I would manage without these foam squares.

I can't explain the color change. Or rather, I can, but don't want to.


I told myself a while back that I would not buy any more yarn (yes, we've all said that, right?) I would stash down as much as possible. But my stash, while large, is far too diverse to make any one large project out of. My inability to throw away scraps plus my early-knitting-years-impulse-buying has resulted in an accumulation of single skeins that I really can't do much with. I'd love to knit odds-and-ends for gifts, but I suspect those gifts mean more to me than to the recipient ... some of you likely understand this.

In any case, I find myself wanting to make large projects now. That A-Line Jacket I made a month or so ago was very satisfying, so I spent a pleasant few days going through my pattern library. This is what I want to do next:

It's from a Vogue Knitting 2009. I'm not using the extremely expensive and hard-to-find yarn they used, of course. I wrote down the gauge and then searched for a similar yarn. As I have mentioned a hundred times, I love Cascade yarn, but the gauge was wrong. Patons is a second favorite, and the gauge matched! But there is one problem with the pattern, and that is I am exactly between their M and L size. If not for my bust, I would be a solid M. Now I'm not sure how to handle this, so I'm going to ask my fellow knitters for advice. Should I just knit the L have it loose in the hips, or should I try to alter the gauge to knit the garment between a M and L? And if I do the latter, what am I aiming for? The required gauge is 20/26 per 4". To make a slightly larger size M, should I try to make the gauge 22? I am wretchedly bad at math, and gauge still confuses me. And alas, this pattern is not in Ravelry and the designer seems to have gone dormant.

Another project I purchased yarn for ... a tiny baby sleeveless lacy dress. I forgot to photo-copy the picture (I also forgot to photo-copy both pages for another pattern I liked in the library book these came from). The baby this is for is not due until March, so no hurry.

Well, I am off to make gauge swatches and try to figure out this whole sizing thing. I don't know why designers make patterns with a 4-inch-difference between sizes, but I'm not a designer ... it's probably very complicated!

I bought this at Big Lots thinking Molly would like it. I set it up and Petunia squeezed her bulk in, kneaded happily while purring extra-loud, and then fell into a sound sleep. Molly is currently supervising this blog posting.

Ta-ta!

Wow it's Cold

Days like this, I'm so glad I'm a knitter!

Also, really glad I have a house with a furnace that I can afford to run, and that I had new doors installed a few months back. Those suckers are vacuum-tight! I'm sitting right next to the back door and don't feel even the tiniest draft.

I know that 21F is only -6C, which is not that bad in Canada, Novia Scotia, Norway ... you get the picture. Baltimore normally has fairly mild winters; today was about 23 degrees thanks to an arctic blast, which was almost a record-breaking low. The wind chill made it feel like 12F. Brrr!

Thankfully, I have this ...

This is my Dresser o'Awesome hand-knits ... hats, gloves, wristlets, scarves. Doesn't include the hand-knit sweaters and shawls in the closets. Most of my sweaters were made 2x, and I'm a M/L now, but I still wear them.

Right now I want to pull it all out and lay down underneath it.

One of my favorite blogs is Cloudberry, in Norway. Winter is beautiful there. Lovely white snow and ice, no black slushy piles all over the place, and it doesn't keep people indoors all winter. City snow is just so unattractive. Bleh!

Well, there's nothing to do but count my blessings and face the oncoming winter. The Violeta Cowl is nearly done.

I have to confess I don't like the whole bottom-edge-rolled-up feature ... I prefer a nice ribbing or garter so it lays flat.

I want to start a baby project for a co-worker who is having a baby next year, but I haven't gotten the wool yet. That will be next.

So! What are you all working on? Is it cold where you are?

You'll have to find somewhere else to sit ... sofa's full. 

A Cowl, a Race Photo, and a Cat

The Violeta Cowl is coming right along!

The yarn is some alpaca that a friend brought back for me while she was visiting Machu Pichu. I tried to estimate how much there was ... I'm guessing about 1,500 yards? It's doubled fingering. Very fine work.

I've made a couple errors, but like always, once the pattern becomes clear, I don't have to rely so heavily on the directions and I can more or less wing it. (famous last words)




By the way, this A-Line Jacket I made with Noro? Fabulous. I love it. I made a belt to go with it, and it is so warm and cozy I can wear it when it's 35 degrees outside (over a long-sleeved shirt, of course). If you want a quick, easy cardigan-style knit, this is the one! Although it's from Vogue Knitting, so you'd have to purchase the pattern, so it's not quick, easy, and free.

Here I am in last Sunday's Across-the-Bay-10K. I'm the one in the orange shirt.

I was so exhausted at this point. I burned myself out on the uphill, and the downhill was just bleh. 

Molly Cat likes to alternate between blocking the microwave and interfering with the coffee pot....

Uh-huh. Whatever, Miss Innocent Kitty.

We're snuggling ... go 'way!