Christmas Warmth

My neice, Morgan finally lives closer to us and I wanted to make her something nice. Her mother said she really liked the ear warmers and fingerless mittens. 

Off to the Ravelry pattern finder. I made some nice easy to work up fingerless mittens and a Calorimetry in some Plymouth Galway that I had left over from another project. 

I finished just in time. The gift was a big hit, since they now live in the greater Syracuse, New York area. My future sister inlaw, Brenda wants me to make a Calorimetry for her daughter Elizabeth. Can't wait to get started.

Hats Off

My son is always commenting on my knitting to one person or another. This time he volunteered me to make a hat for his best friend, Vicki. The name of the pattern is "Blackberry Surprise," but it turned out just as well in this nice light sage color from Paton's Softee Chunky yarn.

It worked up very nice and quick on US #8 circular and dpn needles. What make this project really unique was the smocking that was done to the end project. It really make the pattern pop. Vicki loved the hat and was all to happy to model for the blog.

Stashdown, The Beginning

My upcoming goal for 2011 is to knit down my stash and to also knit strictly for charity. As a practice run, I knit up this Earflap Hat for the Kyle, who lives down the hall. I was afraid that it would be too big at first, but it turned out just right.

I used Lion Brand "Jiffy" which worked up quite nicely. It's almost too bad that I can't find any more. The hat turned out very nice and warm. As you can see, it was widely received by the recipient and model.

The stripes are a little off and jog some. I guess I'll have to learn how to keep them uniform when knitting in the round. Hey, another goal for 2011.

Crazy for Miters

What do you do when you have a ton of left over yarn and the book "Mason Dixon Knitting." You make the Mitered Square Blanket! 

I absolutely love mitered squares and when I saw this pattern, I immediately wanted to make it. I had plenty of left over yarn from making the "Modern Log Cabin Blanket" and the Modern Log Cabin Baby Blanket." 

Halfway through the project I wanted to have every square be a different color combination and I was able to do it. Not one of the 80 squares are the same. I did, however, have to purchase a few more colors of Vanna's Choice in order to accomplish the task.

I had finished this project months ago, but didn't have the space do to the blocking. After my son left for college, I was provided the room (his room actually) to do the blocking. What you see if not how the blanket will be laid out. That is going to take some more careful and artistic consideration. At least I have most of it done for now. Then comes the "fun" part of sewing all these blocks together. Yeah, right!!!!!

Absorba the Great!!!

Ever since I opened the pages of Mason Dixon Knitting, I wanted to do this project. I just recently moved and wanted some zip to an almost all white bathroom. 

This was made with three strands of Peaches and Cream Double Worsted cotton yarn on Size 15 needles. I used my Denise Circulars and it made it very easy to maneuver. It worked up very quickly and I have already received comments during the working up. 

Because it was a "log cabin design," you don't have a lot of ends to weave in. I will warn you, though, that it can be hard on your fingers during the cast on of the next strip. I considered using a large crochet needle, but didn't want to have to "finagle" the loops from one needle to another. I can definitely see myself doing another, but not for a while. I know that when my friends see this, they will definitely want one.

Fancy, Fancy

Moving into the new place gives a lot of opportunity to knit lots of new stuff. This is the "Moss Grid Towel" from Mason Dixon Knitting. 

I used some DK weight cotton yarn from Takhi Stacy Charles. My goal was to keet the color scheme of sage, blue, and yellow from our shower curtain. I plan on knitting two more in that theme. 

The pattern was easy to follow and eventually memorize and I love knitting it up. It makes a great addition to our new bathroom. The Mason Dixon Knitting series of books also gives a lot of ideas for the new home. There will be more postings to this blog from this series of books. Can't wait to show you.

Mystic Meadow KAL

I finally got around to working on the Mystic Meadow KAL which I signed up for last year. This is my first attempt at lace knitting and knitting from a chart. Needless to say, I had to do alot of frogging. I think I have the hang of it now. This is the progress up to row 100. In order to keep from getting lost, I use a lot of colored pencils, stitch markers, sharpies, notes and the ever so important lifeline.

The photo doesn't show the colors well. The yarn is a beautiful sport weight silk blend yarn in a periwinkle colorway. I imagined wearing it with a nice sundress on Easter Sunday.

This by far has been my most challenging project yet, but it's not going to deter me from doing another lace knitting project.

Summer of Sock Innovation

I have absolutely fallen in love with Cookie A's Sock Innovation book. Because I haven't been able to decide which sock to do first, I have decided to do all the patterns from the beginning. I will blog about the progress of each sock. This is also a great way to "stash bust" my sock yarn.

The first sock I'm starting with is "Glynis." It's a very easy to follow lace pattern. I'm confident that I can do these with no difficulty. I plan on using some nice green, white and black Opal yarn. I think the tweedy look will highlight the lace pattern. I'm also going to be knitting two socks on one needle which raises the "swear factor" up a few points. Will be highlighting progress so stay tuned.

Monkey Socks

I have always wanted to knit up some "Monkey Socks" from knitty.com. I have fallen in love with all of the patterns designed by Cookie A. I also wanted to knit up something with Noro Sock Yarn. This is the best of both worlds. 

I found the colorway was perfect for the recipient of these socks. I loved working with the Noro, but beware of certain disadvantages. First of all, the yarn can be very tangling. Be careful when you are balling it up. 

Secondly, the yarn has thick and thin slubby spots. Some people like this, but I don't, especially when some of the thin spots were in the heel. The thick slubby spots also showed up when I was finishing up the toe. While sewing up using the Kitchener Stitch, the thick, underspun part came undone. I had to take out the entire toe and start all over again. 

All in all, the project was a success. I love the colors, and the color graduation. The yarn was a little coarse when I started knitting up the socks, but I hear that the more you wash these socks, the softer they get. Even with the thick and thin spots, the yarn made a sturdy fabric. I hope that my friend likes her gift.

Warm Wishes

The mitered square scarf was very easy and fun to knit up. It has been very popular, especially with the recipient. 

Here is my sister, Lisa, modeling her gift from me. She loved it and said that it was very warm. I have one for myself and one wip (work in progress) which will be for another special someone.

All American Thorpe

Ear flap hats seem to be all the rage these days and I was anxious to get on the bandwagon and maybe knit some up for gifts. The "Thorpe" hat is a free pattern listed on ravelry that is very versatile. You can knit it up as shown or add the braids and tassels if you are doing it for a girl. The pattern comes with three sizes.

Unlike any other hats I've made, this was knitted from the top down. This was very helpful in the area of sizing. It was knit with Paton's Shetland Chunky Yarn on size 9 dpns. Once I stopped increasing, I switched to circular. As I went along, I would thread a lifeline though the stitches and check the size to make sure the length was good. 


I was going to do the edging as an applied I cord, but being an impatient person, I did the listed half double crochet the pattern called for.

The recipient of this hat was my 18 year old son, Eric who is also the model. He had been bugging me for a knitted hat for a while. He picked out the exact design and color of the hat and it turned it really well.

It's Hip to Be Square

I'm always looking for interesting scarf patterns and have been intrigued by the mitered square pattern. When I saw this group in Ravelry, I wanted to try this out right away. I purchased the pattern and began. 

I was amazed at how easily it worked up. It only takes 400 yards of sock yarn. The pattern is easy to follow and memorize. The variegated yarn gives the pattern a nice textured look and I have gotten many compliments on these. 

The scarf on the right is a gift for my sister and the left is one for me. I am currently working on a third in a lavender colorway that is for my best friend. I can see using the same pattern in a heaver weight yarn if you want something chunkier.