More Finished Knits

There's nothing like "marathon knitting" to get your wrist nice and sore, but for some crazy reason

when I got the flyer about "Teacher Appreciation Week" at my daughter's school last week I thought "Hey! I loved this pattern, I'll make her some of those mitts!" ---- In less than a week. 

I'm amazed at how fast a knitter I pretend I am.  I actually DID get them done by Friday (I totally lost Thursday as a knitting day due to a new medication knocking me out all day) but they still had to be washed and blocked before I could send them in to her.  So today was the day and my daughter said she really loved them! Score!

Pattern: Glacial Gauntlets of the Wolf
Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill SuperSock in Cherry Colorway
Red size 6 beads from a craft store - used size 11 crochet hook to apply them.
Mods: Again, only put beads on the top of the hand and omitted them from the top of the thumb.
Added about 10 more rows to the top for extended length on the hand/fingers.

I'm tempted to keep every pair I make of these, I must make my own soon.

I also forgot I had finished up these:

Just some basic plain stockinette socks for my Mom. When the yarn is this colorful I feel basic st st  really showcases the yarn better. That's my own "I'm getting old and too opinionated" point of view. (I have to try to get a better picture before I take them to her. It's hard to get all the pretty colors in this to come out on my camera.)

Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll in the "Make Believe" Colorway
64 st cast on
Size 1 needle (ML)
They came out a tad small, but my Mom's foot is only a women's size 5 so they'll fit her better than my
6 1/2 foot!

Last but not least:

The "Took Forever to Knit- Knitting Meeting Scarf".  Because when I'm at my meetings I blab so much I like something simple to work on.  K3P3 helps, but I STILL made a couple of boo-boos!

Yarn: Blue Heron Bulky Rayon Chenille in the Berry colorway
Size 6 needle
K3p3 cast on 27 (I think).
After washing and drying, this yarn is SCRUMPTIOUS and of course THIS IS MY COLOR!
And now, it's all ready for NEXT winter. Happy Happy.

I'll be heading off to CA to see family soon so I won't be blogging as much until I get back. I'll still
be checking my google reader to keep up with you gals' blogs so Happy Knitting and have a great start to the summer!!

Still Kicking

"Life" has just gotten in the way of blogging lately. I guess we all know how that is!
We've been busy doing a lot of spring cleaning, gardening, spring shopping (these kids grow SO FAST!) and I've been doing a lot of reading. It's funny, but when I'm reading a lot it's because my "knitting mojo" took a vacation on me. For a bit there I start to feel real panic because of all the yarn in the closet and my fingers don't want to grab any needles! It's a tad bit scary, but eventually it comes back around and I'm able to make things work again. Slowly but surely.

A few of my latest projects done randomly in the past few months. (Notice how small I've kept things?)

Pattern: Glacial Gauntlets Of The Wolf
Yarn: Malabrigo Sock in Solis colorway
Size 1 needles
Teal beads - Size 6 - from AC Moore
Beads put on with crochet hook but you can pre-string as well.
Mods: 5 extra rows on thumb. Around 15 extra for hand length. Beads only on top side and omitted from top of thumb.

These are for my Mom. She loves this color and honestly, I keep putting them on and I'm thinking of making myself a pair too. They feel so good! My only quip: If I do make them again I'll change the thumb, it feels too low even with the extra rows added.

Honestly, this was a tough project for me, I wasn't in the mood to knit at all but some friends were doing a KAL, and I have tons of beads, so I just decided to quit being such a fuddy-duddy and join for once. Starting anything is hard when you don't feel like it but I'm so glad I can still knit! Whew.
Next:

Pattern: Cupcake Pincusion
Crocheted for my friend Marie's Granddaughter. She's learning how to sew so I sent her some pins to decorate the top for herself. She's had some serious medical problems so we just wanted to send her something to take her mind off of things for a bit. She's a very brave little girl. I believe she's doing better now, slowly but surely so that's a good thing.
Yarn: Caron Simply Soft
Size E hook

Pattern: Chevron Eyeshade
Yarn: Cascade Fixation
Needle: Size 3
This is for my Mom as well. Just a fun little item for Mother's Day to add to her goodie-bag. Really, when your knitting mojo is gone, these small things are a godsend. This does flip up when it's on, but one gal on Ravelry just turns it the other way (purl side up) and it stays on fine.

Last but not least:

Pattern: Broadripple
Yarn: Cascade Fixation
Size 2 ML
Mods: Only do pattern on leg portion, I like the foot part plain.
Everything was totally cool with these until:

I have no idea how this happened. It wasn't KITTY KAT related at all, I'm sure of that - and it looks like a "cut" rather than a dropped stitch. I don't remember them getting caught when I zipped them in a small mesh bag to wash, but I suppose that could've caused it. Anyway, they've been "sort of" darned by me and luckily with this yarn you can't really see how bad my sewing skills are. Mom will still wear them, she loves how this yarn feels. Total bummer but they survived. If I had more yarn I would've just re-knit them.

BTW, they took for-ev-er to finish.

I am pretty jazzed lately about my newest learning experience:

My friend Helen is going to attempt to teach me how to spin. God Bless her, she has a lot of patience with me and she needs it. I ask her a million questions in about five seconds.  She let me take her Ashford home to practice treadleing.

Sasha says "HEY! Where's the Kitty?" because she smells Mac I'm sure. (Helen's Kitty).  If I could, I'd steal Mac, he's a big ham and so sweet! I have to get a picture of his pretty green eyes one day. So, I'm off to practice treadleing. (Is that a word??)

Happy Spring, Happy Knitting, and Happy Whiskers on Wednesday!