Thick and Thin

 I was so proud of myself this winter, working on only one or two yarn projects at a time. Efficiently, I worked through one project after another. Then Spring arrived... and a flurry of inspiration!

 I am not even sure how many knitting and crochet projects I am in the middle of right now. There are the class samples, the projects I take to work and the projects for evening movie watching.....

Two of my knitting projects are quite the contrast! A thick turtle-neck sweater on size 9 needles and a bright pink pair of socks on size 0 needles. Both are turning out nicely, but it feels odd to my fingers switching back and forth!

The sweater is Kate Davies' very popular Carbeth. It was love at first sight for me and I was so excited to find Hikoo Simpliworsted in the perfect shade of Aqua Mint! (It matches my vintage Pyrex bowls perfectly!) Progress is at a halt currently as I had to order another skein, but I have both sleeves knitted and joined to the body now.

 The socks are a blending of my favorite sock formula (with short-row heel and increased round toe) and inspired by this pattern. Instead of purchasing the pattern I just used my favorite cable that looks like a braid. The yarn is a lovely pink Trekking Pro Natura that unfortunately has been discontinued. 

Are you working on any knitting or crochet projects? Do you tend to start multiple at once or just work on one or two?

Clear and Cold

Hello Friends! Here we are in a new year. Have things fallen back in the normal pattern? All the Christmas decorations cleared away? Here too. We are mostly just trying to stay cozy and warm and not leave the house unless absolutely necessary. January isn't usually a bad month, sometimes we have a lot of snow, sometimes it is just cold. Either way there isn't much motivation (or reason) to go outside. So we all turn to cozy indoor activities. (Above is the view from my bedroom window, ice and all!)

Of course, the knitting needles are very busy this time of year. I finished off a new hat (Rikke Hat), a crochet cowl (Pearl Stitch Cowl) and am now working on a sweater for myself. Kerri is modeling a new sweater (Four Cable Dog Sweater) Mandy knit for a class at our local knitting shop. 

After all the "warm fuzzy" Christmas movies in December, I am always ready for a change of pace. Mandy and I have started re-watching the Lord Peter Whimsy mysteries. 

The same goes for reading. After the cozy lightweight romances of Betty Neels for most of November and December I am ready for a change. Last week I dug out our beloved copies of the Mrs. Polifax books and started on the first one; The Unexpected Mrs. Polifax. It was so fun to read it again! 

January in my mind always means clear cold sunny days and cozy nights. And dirty salty floors.... everywhere dirty salty footprints! The floors aren't even dry before another pair of feet track across it! Ahh well, January doesn't last forever.......

What about you? What do you do watch or read to stay cozy in January?

Summery-ness

Are you soaking up summer? Drinking in all of it's loveliness? Somehow, we think fall might come early this year. There are a couple of signs it is just around the corner and the air has a fall-ish quality to it.

Summer sure has whizzed by fast. I am just trying to enjoy it while it lasts!  Life is just going along as usual, some slow and some crazy days. Here is a couple of snapshots of what is happening around here......

 I had fun making up Color Therapy in Tunisian Crochet for a class sample.

 Fairylights for the porch! (Never enough time to sit out here...)

Reading lots of old favorites this summer. But this one is a new friend by a favorite author, Emilie Loring. So excited to be reading!

(I ordered it used from Amazon and thought I would sun it a bit before reading, completely forgetting rain was in the forecast! Yes, it is a super clean book now! It took three days to dry out.)

It has not been a good garden year, but the marigolds are gorgeous! 

 I have been getting quite a bit of sewing in lately. The newest Akita shirt. Love the fabric!

Raspberry muffins! In these fun paper holders.

Meadowsweet shawl, which was love-at-first-sight. A perfect small project summer knit.

That is what I have been up to. What about you?

LIttle Mitts

 I have been stocking up on little mittens for the nieces and nephew. Since it is hard to gauge how much they will grow over the summer, I am making a pair in every size! Eventually they will wear them!

It took a bit of looking, but I finally found the perfect pattern, Knits for Everybody Mittens by Knit Picks. A fingering weight mitten pattern in a wide range of children's sizes. (Adult sizes too!) The pattern is actually part of a book with sweater, hat and sock patterns. All the patterns come in a wide range of sizes and have worsted and fingering weight versions.

 I love knitting mittens! They are fast, use up scraps and are a fun way to experiment with colors. Especially since they are for kids. I am really going wild with the color combinations! At each color change, I knit four rows alternating the old color and the new color. I love how it turns out extra stripey!

 The sisters and I love making socks, which means we have quite a large stash of leftover bits and bobs. Hopefully, my mitten project with whittle it down a bit. 

Since I am making mittens for the nieces and nephew, I am trying not to make any of them extremely girly. Just bright and colorful! Here are my next three pairs all mapped out.

I might be getting slightly addicted to mitten making! It is just so fun matching up colors and seeing how each pair turns out.

March Madness

 We have gone a little mad over here. Mad for making things! There has been a lot of knitting and crocheting, baking of bread and cookies, soap making, sewing of shirts and pajamas, quilting and more knitting going on. Creativeness oozing out of us until we finally fall asleep at night. It must be Spring!

 Doesn't the changing of the seasons invigorate you? Somehow it has a way of setting us all in motion. And since we can't work outside yet (especially with this weeks snowstorm!), we have to satisfy ourselves with creating things indoors.

Pictured here is one of the projects I am currently working on, a crocheted Haiku Shawl. It will be a sample for a class I will be teaching at our local knit shop. I have had a lovely time repeating the patterns three rows over and over again (it gives me time to dream of other projects!).

Made in Swan's Island Fingering in Lupine, what could be more springy?

What are you making today?

January

I have enjoyed getting back into the regular routine and getting the house back in order. As much as I enjoy the celebration of December it is nice to be back to normal.

In our after Christmas tidying up, we also decided to do a little rearranging or rather leaving of the chairs. To accommodate the Christmas tree in front of the windows, one of the side chairs is moved to the other end of the sofa. This year we decided to leave the chairs where they were and add a footstool. I was a bit worried people would be prone to trip over the footstool as we are all use to plenty of space in front of the couch, but so far it has been fine and the footstool has been a comfy addition.

With the weather so gray and chilly, it is hard to be motivated to do much of anything. Lots of books have been read!

Mandy and I are taking turns reading aloud to each other, one reads and one knits. At least knitting is being accomplished! Our favorites have been Grace Livingston Hill books. I was fascinated to read the detailed description of Jane's apartment in Exit Betty (copyright 1920). And The Mystery of Mary (copyright 1912) is always a fun read with it's descriptions of the lady's costumes. Right now we are about halfway through The Street of the City(1942) with Duskin(1929) next on the list.

I have been re-reading old favorites; Here Comes the Sun, I Hear Adventure Calling and With This Ring by Emilie Loring; The Corner Shop and The Golden Collar by Elizabeth Cadell. Next on my list is White Orchids and The Strange Proposal by Grace Livingston Hill.

Of course my knitting needles are keep busy in the evenings! Little socks for the niece and nephew and now a sweater for myself. The Georgetown by Hannah Fettig, a comfy cozy cardigan in thick wool.

This is the view, around the frost, from my bedroom window this morning. It is lovely to see blue skies again!

So what has your January looked like?

Simple Knitting

Sometimes the easy and simple is best. Like Elizabeth Zimmerman's Garter Stitch Blanket I have been knitting. A soothing rhythm of clicking metal needles, miles and miles of speedy garter stitch, a simple woolly yarn that is washable.

  Sometimes once a knitter has learned more complicated techniques, garter is left behind. But there is a refreshing simplicity about garter stitch.

I will be sad to finish this project. It has been so enjoyable to settle in evenings with a movie and  watch the pieces grow larger and larger.

Yes, there will be pieces to sew together, but it is quickly and tidily done with a mattress stitch. (And so much better then wrestling with a mammoth knitted project.) 

You can view more details on Ravelry. 

I am so excited to gift this project! I know it will be loved and used......and greatly appreciated.

Knitted Ornaments

Are you getting ready for Christmas? I have been working knitted ornaments. They make great simple gifts (or last minute gifts!) and are fun and easy to whip up.

My favorite so far is this Knitted Stjarna by Karolina Eckerdal. I love the ingenious construction and it's simple beauty. 

This Two Strands Christmas Ball by Mary Ann Stephens is also on my list. A lovely classic colorwork design.

 And to add a bit of color I am having fun crocheting these Christmas Baubles by Carmen Heffernan  in fun colors. These are really fast to make! Taking about half an hour to complete. 

What about you? Do you have Christmas projects that you are hard at work on?

Sock Mending

It is getting around to that time of year again, woolly sock weather! So this weekend I sorted through my  handmade socks to see which ones needed a bit of attention. 

In winter, I wear my socks everyday and night, so they get a pretty rigorous work out. Amazingly, they hold up very well. The blue socks in the picture above was the first pair I knit and are almost 10 years old! (I do tend to save those in the back of the drawer.)  After all that time and all the hard work and wear, I can't bear to give up on them when a bit of yarn will put them back in working order.

Tapestry needle (and wooden needle case), small scissors, double point knitting needles, crochet hook and darning egg. Essential tools for a bit of mending.

 There are two common ways to mend socks. Pick up stitches and knit a patch or weave yarn across to fill in a hole.

 Here I am knitting a patch for this sock, when done I will then sew the patch down along the edges and top. I usually determine the method on the size of the hole to patch; larger holes get a patch and smaller ones (or wear spots) are re-enforced with weaving.

Especially with weaving, a darning egg comes in handy. Placed inside the sock with the sock held snugly around it, the darning egg provides a smooth hard surface to work against.

I found working vertically on the inside (through the purl bumps) and working horizontally on the outside (under the knit columns) worked very nicely.

One pair done. A few more to go.......

A Raspberry Hazelhurst

What is a Raspberry Hazelhurst you ask? It is my favorite summer knitting project!!

With a lovely (easy to memorize!) and mesmerizing pattern, that is soothing but at the same time not boring, the Hazelhurst Scarf is a great project for  traveling or just hanging around watching movies.

The pattern is by Kate Davies and you can find the pattern HERE.

The yarn is Shepherd's Wool Fine and is one of my favorite yarns. So soft and fluffy, but still feels like wool. I love this combination of Raspberry and Natural! 

(.....well.....I pretty much love anything made out of the raspberry. This is my third scarf with this color!)

I have been holding the raspberry in my right hand (knitting the English method) and the natural in my left hand (knitting the Continental method). It works quite well this way and I have  a nice rhythm going. After knitting yards this way, it is almost becoming automatic!

The color work makes the scarf so squishy and snugly. I can't wait to wear it!

For those of you who are knitters, you can find all the info on my project HERE.