More projects call to me

So, now that Christmas has passed, the heat's off, right? Hell no, I'm furiously trying to finish the last gift that should've been posted to Florida well over a week ago: my mother-in-law's Fern Lace Stole. I knew I was pitting myself against that unweilding foe TIME when I failed to cast on until Dec. 6, but I went there anyway. And now I'm growing bored with the project. And I'm soooo close to finishing!!!!

I have just under 2 balls left before I bind off and begin the edging for which I'm reserving my last ball. I found this fabulous Vanessa yarn from Universal at a local Super Dollar. I've learned it's a discontinued line, but I absolutely adore it! I bought up a bunch, about 12 balls of the greenish color, 7 balls of the blueish that I'm currently using on this unfinished gift, and another 8 or so of a pinkish color that I'm planning on using in a stole for a close friend.

But as I search around on Ravelry for an edging choice with which to finish this Fern Lace project, I'm seized by that urge to cast on several new projects! There's a mitten pattern that I've yet to write down that I love doing, there's a scarf I've wanted to do for my sister and another for my mother, then there's the hat my daughter wants and allegator scarf my son's been waiting for.

But I can't stay away from looking through the patterns! And worse, my library of knitting books keeps growing, thanks to my wonderful husband. But I hang my head as I admit I've knit nary a one from those many books...is this normal?

Makin' those mittens mine

Having only recently taken up this hobby, when I find a pattern I like, it's golden. But when I find a pattern that I might be able to alter? Well, I'm like a crack whore carpet surfing for a wee bit of rock.

Enter exhibit A: the Lace-Edged Women's Hat. This 6-stitch repeat pattern was a fast, dreamy edging with which to begin this easy peasy hat. But I continue to run into issues with the decrease. Having made a couple of these now, I'm not quite sure what I do wrong, but the top ends up looking like a nipple. So, rather than fight it, I turned the 6 remaining stitches into 2 I-cords and finished 'em with a couple of beads. Kinda fun, no?

Notice the jacquard by Bernat? Sure it's a low-end worsted acrylic, but it knits up so great that it's easy to mistake yourself for some fair isle maven who just whips out great color schemes with the drop of a needle! But I digress... Loving the lace edge so much, I decided to take my knitting to the next TWO levels: mittens being one level and bigger-scale pattern altering being the level after that.

So, looking through Ravelry's many mitten patterns, I opted for the tried and true Classic Mitten pattern and decided to do away with the ribbed cuff ('cause I just don't find ribbing that pleasurable) and replacing it with the lace-edging from the hat! CUTE!

Looking at the chart for the classic mitten, you'll see there's 2 options with which to go at it: 4 needles or 2. As demented as some may think me, the idea of having to sew up a mitten left me running for my recently won vintage lot of double points (sizes 1-8 at a cool $20, boo-ya!) and went about altering the number of stitches to cast on. For a medium woman, the pattern directs one to cast on 44 stitches, but since the lace edging is a 6-stitch repeat, I cast on 42 and hoped for the best.

At the onset, I ignored the lace instruction to purl the second row before starting the lace pattern and now, having done both a knit row and purl row, I can say: Trust the pattern. Knitting the first row following the cast on causes it to roll a bit, so I just bite the bullet and purl it (and it lays so much nicer).

Having divided the 42 stitches between 3 needles, I set about implementing the 6-stitch, 4-row lace-edge pattern. When working a worsted weight, I chose to repeat the 4-row pattern 5 times on size 5 dpn before moving on to the rest of the mitten pattern.

(Note: I do not decrease 2 stitches in the last round of the cuff as directed. The benefit is that my number of stitches now matches the original Classic Mittens pattern. I haven't found the lack of a decrease to be a problem, either. But, whatev!

Then I just followed the pattern to the letter and viola! a sweet lil' pair of mitts that match the hat! A great little holiday gift if I don't say so myself. (Just don't comment on the thumbs....I'm a newbie!)

More fiber to share!

Anyone ever wake from a fitful night, crabby and tired? Okay, many of us have. But I'm honestly pissed off at my kids ... and they haven't even woke! They were just ANIMALS in my dream! ARGH! Anyway, how about a little more fiber-luvin'? Just look at this gorgeous washcloth I finished Sunday night!

It's a pattern I purchased from Susan B. Anderson and I had to teach myself to crochet, but thanks to my copy of Teach Yourself Visually Knitting, I got it done. And not to shabby, eh?

Here's one I finished yesterday afternoon.

And I also started my hemp washcloth project. After completing not quite half of, I'm calling it "The FBI Witness Protection Washcloth" because my finger prints have been effectively erased! It's some tough stuff, but I think it shall be a fabulous kitchen washcloth (I'm using the same Grandma's Favorite Dishcloth pattern on US 6 needles). Miss Daisy tells me hemp does not retain mildew (joy!) and the coarseness of this Mother Nature Yarn of 50% wool/50% hemp will surely rid my surfaces of grim and germs (euphoria!). Now . . . to find the band-aids for my poor fingers.

As for my version of the Just Enough Ruffles Scarf? I call her 'Marilyn' and let me say that all I want to do is punch it! I chose to do this project with a delicious Moda Dea yarn that's a dreamy soft lavender. One of my beloved Bitches recently broke her fibula in a stellar display of racquetball prowess and I thought this yummy thing would help her through the remaining days of Minneapolis winter. But now, finishing this scarf is a march to the death.

I refuse to frog this beast! NO! Rather, I'd like to take a flame thrower to it, but given it's mostly acrylic, I don't think it'd burn with the veracity I crave. It's been the bane of my knitting existence since I started it on the 7th, which is why I call her Marilyn -- the other Marilyn in my life is the bane of my work life. 'Nuff said...

Show 'n Tell time . . .

I've been asked to post a show-and-tell of fiber wares. Here you go!

Here's Miss Mo wearing a boa scarf made with Lion Brand Fun Fur. I'm made loads of these because they're fun and easy! Basically, cast on about 15 to 18 stitches and then simply knit to the desired length. When I make these for kids, I knit with size 11 needles, but for adults, size 13 needles.

These are my Cyclone Fingerless Mittens. VERY easy, simply garter stitch two rectangles! And then sew up the seams. Though DO remember to leave a thumb hole in the seam. I sewed the first two completely up, so I actually knitted 4 f'ing rectangles before I actually accomplished a usable pair. But they're fun and perfect for the Cyclone in your life. Pick your colors in an average worsted yarn and Go 'Clones!!!

This is a pair of fingerless mitts for my sister, K2, who requested a pair she could wear while working on the computer. Her office is apparently a wee frigid. Anyway, I modified a free pattern found on the Net with an irksome homespun (it looks and feels yummy, but being a newbie knitter, it's a pain in the arse).


Me mum asked for a scarf to go with her brown coat and I decided to make one from the diagonal check pattern from Teach Yourself Visually Knitting in a basic worsted yarn. I failed to click pic of the finished product, but Mom said she loved it. Though I've yet to see her wear it. Humph. Maybe our 50 degree temps could be why, no?


Here's my present fav: the dishcloth! This first one came from Miss Wooly Daisy who suggested I whip them up for Christmas presents. Well, I was too crazed with painting and pre-holiday freaking out to do it then, so I'm hoping to build up a stash of these for Easter! Miss Daisy forwarded the favorite pattern: Grandma's Favorite Dishcloth. I used Peaches N Creme 100% cotton yarn for both this and the following Fishy Washcloth, also loosely based on the same pattern.



But knitting isn't my only thing distracting me from housework: beads! Here's a peak at some stuff the kids and I put together awhile ago.

A crafty son-of-gun

So, I haven't been posting because I've been purging even more "friends" from Facebook. Not because they've done anything, but because I just wasn't comfortable. Now I'm down to about 109 and am feeling quite ok with things. And there's also a dog tale I'm just not ready to share yet. So, here's what I've been doing . . .

The knitting is going quite well. I made these fingerless mittens for myself. Go Cyclones (or Hogwarts)!

This crazy boa was done for my sister C3 who celebrated another birthday with Abe this week. I also did sister K2 a black one.

Since I made K2 a blue scarf (that I didn't photograph) I made C3 a second warm and cuddly number.

Because I absolutely adore the Lion Brand Fun Fur (which I snag for a buck a skein at the local Super Dollar) I made Mo this fun boa as well as a friend's "Little" who's involved with the local Big Brothers/Big Sisters program.

Then, last Saturday, when I attended my first Knit-a-thon with a local knitting group: Root Cellar Knitters, I made this bambino hat. The group was replenishing the supply of hand-made hats for fresh hatchlings at the hospital.

A few weeks ago, sister K2 was interested in the Magdalene Rosary that I'd made for myself

So I made her one.

While sisters A1 and C3, along with Mom, aren't jiggy with the Magdalene, Mom and C3 requested traditional rosaries. Here's Mom's that I finished last night:

Whew, I'm a crafty son-of-bitch, aren't I? :-)

I'm sooooo Martha!!!

Can you stand it?! I type in jest, but have to admit, I'm so friggin' PUMPED!!! I can't believe I did this! The yellow square was my first project, complete with peep hole. In progress is this stripey scarf for my son or daughter, it's their school colors. Unfortunately they both balked because it wasn't 'cardinal & gold' (a made-to-order scarf to anyone who can correctly guess why!). I started the scarf at 3:30 this morning, couldn't sleep. Voices in the head were too loud. The knitting was pretty therapeutic, but Turbo needs a nap!