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We've been making the rounds of the holiday party circuit where there's an abundance of festive food, laughter and good company. All of this merrymaking is great fun, but it definitely cuts into my knitting time.
The almost-finished Scrunchie Hat. It's in a holding pattern, waiting for the crown.
I'd better finish quickly.
There's a yarn queue forming.
In other news gift certificates are now available in the shop. They are perfect for holiday gift giving and other occasions. The best part? You don't have to go to the mall to get them.
I'm not quite sure how we landed on Monday again, but here we are. I have knitting to share, but alas, there aren't any pictures. Yes, it's definitely Monday. The knitting will keep for another day. Instead today is a good day for a bit of . . .
THIS AND THAT
~ Check out these intriguing pictures of shepherds on stilts. Click on the pictures to enlarge. As if getting around on stilts isn't enough of a challenge, note that some of the shepherds are knitting while on stilts. The sheep graze on bog land, and the stilts keep the shepherds out of the muck. Personally I would have opted for a good pair of boots. You can read more about it here.
~ Speaking of sheep if you need a holiday gift for a knitter, you might want to consider the sheep gift from Heifer International. Easy online shopping and a good cause all rolled into one.
~ Looking ahead to 2012 the top color of the year will be Tangerine Tango. The attributes of orange are vitality, urgency and strength. We can use a healthy dose of all three in the coming year.
~ Finally, paper snowflakes. It's that time of year when I like to pull out paper and scissors. Cut, cut, cut. If you need inspiration, take a look at these beautiful flakes made from junk mail. And if you don't have time to take scissors in hand, virtual paper snowflakes may be just the thing for you.
I've been working on holiday knitting. At this point in the game I have more good ideas than actual finished projects.
I have a plan for these three, and it involves combining them in a particular order. Any order will do. There's no right or wrong, but I'm stuck.
This has a nice flow.
But there are other options.
This one has a certain appeal.
But then again, so does this one.
I've been playing around with these combinations for too long. It's time to make a decision. After all of this back and forth, the actual knitting will be done in no time.
We are surrounded by color each and every day. Sometimes it takes a unique contrast in colors to get our attention. So it is with my color inspiration for the week - minty green against bark brown.
Lacy lichen.
I have a new pair of mitts.
Diamondback Mitts by Stephen West.
I enjoy designs from Stephen West. He features some creative constructions and has fun with shapes and angles.
These mitts are no exception.
A simple cable and a few slipped stitches create the diamondback pattern.
Only one color is worked at a time. With color changes every two rows, it's easy to keep track of the colorwork pattern.
The thumb flows naturally from the diamondback design.
Two of the diamondback lines form a built-in gusset and nestle the thumb.
The mitts are unisex.
The pattern includes options for different sizes.
The yarn is a wool / mohair blend - soft and silky with a subtle halo.
Currently Dirty Water DyeWorks offers this blend only at festivals and events. I think it might be time to offer it in the full lineup.
My track record for keeping mitts isn't very good. I've scattered more than my fair share across New England.
I hope this pair will help me break that cycle.
My Diamondback Mitts are off the needles, and I'll have shots of the finished product in another post. While I was working the thumb, I took pictures of the thumb in progress. There are many ways to make a thumb. This pattern uses the following thumb construction.
Elizabeth Zimmermann calls this the thumb-trick in her Knitter's Almanac. Knit 4 stitches with contrasting yarn - that's the bright blue above. After knitting those stitches, put them back on the left hand needle and knit them again with the working yarn. Note - if you're working with finer yarn, you'll probably need to increase the number of contrasting stitches.
Continue to work the rest of the mitt. After the mitt is finished and off the needles, it's time for the thumb.
The blue strand marks the spot where the thumb will be. Open up the thumb hole by unraveling the blue yarn and exposing live stitches.
Unravel stitch by stitch.
Put the stitches on needles right away.
If the stitches get away, it can be messy.
Keep unraveling until the contrasting yarn is free.
After all the unraveling there will be two sets of stitches and a thumb hole. For this thumb there are 3 stitches on one needle and 4 on the other. Due to the way stitches are constructed there will be an odd number of stitches after removing the contrasting yarn.
Knit across the stitches that will make up the bottom side of the thumb.
Pick up stitches in the gap between the two needles.
Knit across the top set of stitches and pick up stitches in the gap on the other side.
Stitches all around, ready to become a thumb.
All that's left is to work the thumb.
This thumb is done, ready for a bind off. Remember the thumb-trick, a quick and clever technique.
I've been focused on the dye pots.
Blue, blue and more blue.
While I've been immersed in blue, my daughter started a new knitting project.
Dipped Infinity Scarf, the purple version.
At first I think she asked me to make it for her.
When she realized it would be along wait, she took matters into her own hands. She has a very independent, do-it-yourself attitude. The scarf is coming along nicely, and she is thrilled. Maybe I'll ask her to make one for me.
For several months now I've been attracted to all things yellow - from bright to mellow. Maybe I'm storing up visions of the sun as we head into the dark days of winter. There's even a hint of it in my color inspiration for the week.
Fading yellow.
The other day my daughter and I were in a local store, and she persuaded me to take a look at the Christmas aisle. You know which aisle I mean. The aisle full of all things Christmas from candy to candles to lawn ornaments. The aisle with enough lights to light up Times Square.
We strolled down the aisle, laughing at some of the silly things designed to celebrate the season. We decided that all we needed were some lights when my daughter made a discovery.
She found a bit of magic tucked away at the back of a shelf. Ice skaters. Ice skaters wearing handknits.
A girl.
And a boy.
Ice skaters all warm and cozy in woolly sweaters and hats. They made my day. These skaters are meant to be tree ornaments, but for now they'll be keeping me company at my desk.
