And Three weeks later......

Sorry....MIA.  Several folks have written expressing concern that I have not been posting.  Nope - nothing wrong.  Just life getting in the way I guess.  Sorry - I'll do better, I promise!

While I personally am fine, Sofee, well you know her allergies!  She is in the middle of the worst of it.  Poor little girl.  Her eyes are really bothering her this year.  We have a new ointment, but basically she needs to stop rubbing them.  We are balancing drugs and barrier clothing items with full-attention/lap time.  We'll get through this again......  I'm just hoping for early (and frequent) frosts!

  She could be a poster child.....poor little girl!

On the knitting front, finished are the "Deep in the Woods" mittens.  They've been on my Ravelry page for a couple of weeks, so sorry if this is redundant for many of you.   I made a few changes, which can be found on my Ravelry page.  Basically they are knit as pattern is written.  I really like them!

I started a plain vanilla sock.  Opal yarns can hardly make "vanilla" socks! Pretty wild!  This colorway is one from the rain forest collection of a couple of years ago.  Stash yarn. It's a project that I can take and run with.  Mindless knitting - hmmmm - that seems to be what I need these days. 

I am nearing completion on another pair of  "Knotty" gloves.  These are out of a skein of Cherry Tree Hill - stash yarn that is several years old.  Love them.  They fit a bit tighter than the reddish pair I recently completed.  Same needle size and stitch count, just a slightly different yarn weight. 

The post-lady has been VERY nice to me this past week or so. 

This Schauht Lazy Kate came to me on Friday of this week.  My WooleeWinder bobbins are just a smidge longer than the stock Lendrum bobbins, and would bind up on the Lendrum Kate.  I decided that I would prefer a horizontal kate, and decided to go with this model.  I have yet to use it, but hopefully I will like it immensely!

I decided it was about time that I figure out what I should be doing, so DH actually, purchased these DVD's for me.  I am a "spin by the seat of your pants" type of gal.  I do what feels right.....and for the most part I have been pretty happy with the outcome.  But the recent sale on these DVD's - well, I decided that perhaps it was time to see how things are "supposed" to be done.  LOL.....  (Lots of Luck) with that!  I'll be trying to break bad habits from now on......
 
And speaking of:  This fiber was especially dyed for me by JulieSpins.  I wanted to spin some light to dark transitional yarn.  Love this fiber.  She named the colorway "Teddy Bear", which is a perfect name!

With a little bit of manipulation, it has been spun into a nice hank of yarn.  It's not been sett yet, so not really ready for it's debut shot.  Also, only half has been spun at this point. I need to find the perfect pattern. 

And, a new sock book:  I pre-ordered this one.  I have knit many of Stephanie's designs and find them both beautiful and challenging.  Little dpns have been dancing in my brain since this beauty arrived!

I am actually waiting for an Etsy delivery that I will be sure to share with you all.  Nope - not fiber!  Something really cute....and I am so anxious to receive!  Be sure to check back to see......... :)  

That's about all I guess.  BG will start his little "pre" pre-school this week.  Only 1 hour each day (Tues/Thurs) a gradual adjustment.  We have been talking about school and reading books about going to school for the last several weeks.  He keeps zeroing in on the "school bus" aspect of school.  Sadly, I am his school bus.  Hope he's not too disappointed with that.  I'm very excited for him.....I think he's going to love it!  I'll keep you posted.  

What is it with handcoverings?????

All I can think of is that I must secretly be worried about cold fingers come this winter.  For some reason I keep knitting mittens/gloves.  Plus tons of designs are dancing around in my head.  Sheeessshhh!! 

Besides knitting for Sofee this week, I also managed to knit these gloves.

 The pattern is called Knotty, a freebie on Ravelry.  I have been admiring it for a couple of years.  The yarn,  a lightweight Socks That Rock, stashed from my club membership several years ago was always one that I really liked.  So...it was a good match!  I would really recommend this pattern.  It is very well written, and the gloves themselves are very nice fitting, and very wearable.  While they are technically knit from fingering weight yarn, the STR is a little heavier than some - resulting in what I think will be a nice warm glove. 

Julia Mueller has many glove patterns available for purchase.  Most have complex cable action going on.  She is kind of the Cookie A designer of gloves.  This very pleasant experience may have given me the confidence I need to try some of her more complicated patterns. 

My postal carrier rang my front door bell today with a package:

My very first "JulieSpins" fiber!  She has a unique way of running her "clubs".  She calls it the "Un-club".  She takes orders of who wants what, giving the participants some upfront options.  This time, she posted the fiber choices (Rambouillet or Merino/silk blend) and asked us each for guidance as to what colors we wanted.  I asked for the Rambouillet fiber in "Autumnal and woodsy" colors.  She calls this "Soft Oak Leaves".  Each time I look at it, I see additional colors.  I think it is just lovely!  Warm and rich - totally within my comfort zone.  I've ordered from Julie before, but only for the purchase of gifts.  This will not be my last purchase - for me!

And tomorrow, I may just hear that doorbell ring again! Could happen......

No frills - no fuss

Very basic, worsted weight, wool gloves. (I must really be worried about having cold fingers this winter.....)These are made from the Knitty pattern, "Cigar". Originally a man's pattern, I discovered last winter that if I make the smallest size, on a size 4 needle, they fit me perfectly. They are knit from the Andes yarn, the same used in the Horizontal Herringbone scarf.I especially like the way the thumb gusset grows out of the side of the hand. For those of you that have accidentally knit two left (or right) hand coverings.....this might be a good pattern for you, as each is made identical. You just chose to wear one on the right, and the other on the left hand. Eventually they "form" to your hand and you can tell which one goes where.

It really is a simple, easy pattern that I would suggest for someone's first glove project. The instructions are very easy to understand, and the heavier yarn helps make the fiddly finger part, well, not quite so...fiddly. And best of all - the finished product is a good utilitarian glove.

Hope you all have a happy holiday. "See" you in a few.......

Nuttinbutchillin.......

Feeling a little left out of late, Sofee reminds me that this is HER blog too, so she gets to demonstrate what she and I are doing today. Basically just chilling out! We are "home alone" and doing the leisure thing. In her case.....that means sleeping. In mine....it means blogging about finished projects, and starting something new.

Still damp from blocking, here is the latest....... truly a "Labor or Love". Were they not intended for my mom, I think I would have given up on them. Now that the sweat has stopped flowing, I actually like them. I hope she will. Even though she rarely goes out in cold weather anymore, she will enjoy showing them to her friends, I am sure. She thinks her children are all talented in our varied ways, and enjoys sharing stories (aka bragging) about us with her friends. Once a mom...always a mom I guess. I may forget to show her the flaw that I just noticed as I snapped these photos. I was (fairly) happy with the continuation of the palm pattern on the thumbs, but I now see that I messed up on the pinkie finger. Darn! Sigh......
For the record, these were not easy. The stitch count between the glove proper and what I needed for the fingers were off. So.... a great deal of "fudging" went on. Guess they are serviceable gloves, and I will now stop whining!

New on the needles this morning, a fun little project....for me, or for nobody. I don't care...it's just going to be fun!

Blogless Karen, a member of my Thursday night knitting group (we really need a name) told me about a mitten KAL on Ravelry. On Friday morning I found an invitation to this group. (Thanks Karen!).

As a special gift to those that signed up for the KAL, the designer (Jorid Linvik) sent us each one of her new patterns. She has another free one available, plus some gorgeous designs for sale, but this one just struck me as being so whimsical and fun! It also brings back memories of our great Moose search when we were in Glacier National Park a few months ago. We failed to see any, but other members of our group were more fortunate.

I dug into the stash (love that stash) and came up with some suitable yarns and cast on this morning. I am using Opal sock yarns. The colors in the photo are a little off. The background for the roses is a deep green, and the background for the moose section is deep brown. I love the reflection in the ice design. I rarely use blue, and it is just by luck that I have a skein in my stash. Guess it was a good omen.....

Happy Halloween.......

From the two little spooks at my house!and....

Sofee still gets top billing around here.... we DO have to live with her, after all!

As for the knitting.... I am making progress on the Selbuvotter gloves. I hope to finish this first one today. Obviously, I have the thumb left. So far, the fit is just perfect. I had hoped that I could gift them to my mom for Christmas, and I think the sizing is going to be just perfect! There are some issues with the charts in the book. Even though I am working from the Errata, well the errata needs an errata. (lol) I "made" it work, however....which probably continues the tradition of the historic pattern, now that I think about it. I just hope the 2nd glove will match.... sometimes my notes are not as adequate as they should be.

On a more personal note....three good news items came across my desk yesterday. (In these days...we need good news, don't we!!). 1st, my DH got a good report from his cardiologist. We are approaching the 2 year anniversary of his heart attack, and things seem to be going pretty good for him!!! 2nd, DD got a nice job promotion! Way to go BG's mom! and 3rd, our son will be coming home for Christmas! He is low man at his clinic, so he had last choice of holiday vacation. Guess the stars were all aligned correctly for our family yesterday!

Wishing good star alignment for all of you..... and happy knitting too! Kiss your little spooks tonight, and have a safe celebration.

With the help of my friends.....

These mittens were made using Malabrigo, worsted weight. My first experience with this yarn, but hopefully far from my last. These are so buttery soft and lovely.... I totally know what all the hype is about this yarn now. Also, I love this pattern! It's Chevalier, (Ravelry link). Check it out....but don't be afraid. It is really a very easy pattern....if you can cable, you can make these mittens. The pattern calls for doubled fingering weight yarn, but worsted weight has been substituted by many on Raverly, and it worked just fine for me also.

I used size 5 needles - knit exactly per pattern instructions. These will NOT be sent to parts unknown. They will be keeping MY fingers warm this winter! The colorway is "Red Java"....actually a little more rusty than photographed. And yes...I did use a cable needle for these.

And while BG took his nap this morning, I started these:
A pair of gloves from the Selbuovtter book. It is Annemore #11. Finished size will determine their final destination. I am using Cascade Heritage sock yarn and 2.75mm Pony Pearls. The yarn gives the benefit of being machine washable and the strength of the nylon will help them wear well. If you see blue Pony Pearls in the next photo, you'll know that I frogged and started over on a smaller needle..... could happen!

Fall has hit Iowa with a vengeance.... and with it a hard freeze that should give Sofee some relief from her allergies. While I hate the thought of high heating bills, having an itch free pup will be a welcome event.

I'll be back later in the week with Halloween greetings....
knit on.....
k

Finished gloves

My 2nd post of the day! I think that's a first.

I am happy with the finished gloves, although I did make an error. Notice the one round of dark brown before the start of the fingers on my left glove. Darn!! I did not notice till I was finishing off the fingers. Nope - frogging was not an option. I can deal with it. I should have asked if anyone could find the error, but was fearful that there were more that others might notice that I had not!!! Didn't even want to go there....

Stats: Knit from pattern obtained thru KAL site "Karen's gloves" KAL. Brown yarn OpalUni, multi is STR "Cobblestone County" colorway. Knit on Pony Pearls 2.00mm for hands, 2.25 for fingers. (I didn't know I had chubby fingers!) They were really pretty easy to knit - lots easier than they look...

1st glove finished...

and I must admit, I am pretty happy with it! There are a few things that could be more perfect, but only I know what those are....lol! Now, if I can get the 2nd glove to fit as well. The patterns on the fingers are random, so the second glove will not actually "match" but it would be nice if it fit as well. Hope I took adequate notes, (and that I can decipher them when the time comes!)