Something for Alaska

I finished another little project on Sunday. This is the Foliage hat pattern fron Knitty.

The yarn is Malabrigo, colorway 176, a mix of darker reds and browns with touches of gray and yellow. The darker pictures are truer to life.

I love the Malabrigo. I love the softness and the colors. This will be a nice warm hat for those evenings in Alaska next month.

Oh, and by the way, this is something else new for Alaska.

J is for...

Jogless Jog.

I'd read about the Jogless Jog in Handknitting With Meg Swansen, but it never made much sense and I couldn't get it to work when I tried it. It wasn't until I got the DVD Knitting Glossary that it began to sink into my thick skull, and when I got the the video A Swedish Dubbelmossa it really and truly made sense. Finally. And it works. Behold the "Very Warm Hat" from The Opinionated Knitter by Elizabeth Zimmermann.

Oh, you can see the jog if you really look for it. But I can pick up the finished hat and not see it at all while just casually handling it. Here is one side...

And here is the other. The join is there, but so minute that no one will notice when Joe is wearing it in Alaska this fall.

Specs: Cascade 200 in Light and Dark Gray, less than one skein each. US Size 7 needles. Modifications: I cast on 112 stitches instead of the 91 called for in the pattern, and added an extra stripe above and below the two color pattern.

Joe says it seems a little too big for him, although I think it fits him just fine. He thinks I ought to try shrinking it down a bit, but I'm afraid that if I try I'll end up with something much too small. Hopefully he will just get used to it. It certainly is a very warm hat.

A Prairie Silk Set

Once the Moderne Baby Blanket was finished, I fell into a flurry of finish-itis. On Friday I finished the Moss Gauntlets. The pattern is Natalya, the yarn Brown Sheep Prairie Silk, which unfortunately has been discontinued. It took a skein for each gauntlet. I did these on US Size 7 bamboo DPNS. The only modification I made to the pattern was to use only six pattern repeats for the arm, thus cutting the arm length approximately in half.

I had one skein left of the Prairie Silk (color Moss, for those who want to know) and while at work on Saturday I knocked out a Calorimetry headband. I had read on Ravelry about size issues with this; I cast on 100 stitches on US Size 8 needles and did 14 repeats of Row 5. Because I was using a solid color yarn, and because I wanted to make this a set with the gauntlets, I put four columns of cables in the center of the band. Hear it is, modeled by Barbara on Sunday afternoon.

My frenzy of knitting also involved sorting through my stash on Sunday. For those of you watching my activity on Ravelry, no, I did not go out and buy a massive amount of stash. I've just been adding yarns that have been in stash for a while. One of these weekends I'll finish up cataloguing the rest of the skeins.



Tomorrow is Joe's birthday; tomorrow is Felicity's birthday; tomorrow is also fellow blogger Roxie's birthday! Head on over and wish her a happy one!

No, I Really Haven't Been Lost

But it has felt like it at times. Joe and I were both pretty worn out after all the church services last weekend. Then there has been the excitement -- and attendant hassles -- of getting a contract on Nana's house. Emails, phone calls, paperwork to be signed and faxed, etc, etc. We are planning on a closing date at the end of this week or the beginning of next. Then the taxes finally got done and mailed. The stomach flu and other assorted ailments have been going through the family. It turned cold again. Buddy has been trying to dig up the flowers I planted. At work, the new building was supposedly ready to be signed for, only there were still holes in the ceiling, the lights were wired wrong, the new paint was already peeling, on and on ad nauseum. So the move in date has been pushed off again. Then I took pictures of my Beanies for Preemies before I mailed them, and then later deleted them off the camera after the hats were mailed. So you will have to go here to see them. Knitting? Next to none.

So how was your week?

But the roses did bloom.

Beanies for Preemies

Since I had finished up the hats I wanted to knit for Ann for 40 Days For Others, and it's still Lent (and technically, 40 Days is still in effect), I offered to knit some preemie hats for Julie, who is collecting them between now and April 15. She's offering sock yarn as a prize, too. I've been spending every spare moment on these, but as the picture shows, there have not been too many spare moments. (Drat the fact that I have to work in order to eat.) However, what I can do, I will do, and I will be mailing off whatever I can finish next week. I went and got some Bernat baby yarn at Walmart, and I am enjoying working on these; I just wish I could find more time. Once these are done, it will be time to give hat knitting a break and go back to work on already-started socks and blankies. I wish I had blogged about this earlier, in case anyone else wanted to join in.

Maybe I can get some more knitting in yet tonight.

Finishings

Knitting has been going on at an almost every day pace, but I haven't seem to have been accomplishing much. Maybe it's the end of winter blahs, maybe it's the tax time funk, maybe it's just because there was too much stuff to do when we were vacationing, but I haven't finished near as much as I've wanted to. Or maybe my expectations have been a bit unrealistic. Anyways, it's time to celebrate several finishings!

I've made my 100 miles for Runagogo!! Buddy and I walked the last mile on Friday night. Now the next goal is to walk another 100 by July 4. I might need some new shoes, though.




Several weeks ago I finished my Fetching Mitts. I love the Malabrigo and I want to knit a hat to match these for autumn.




I finally finished some hats for 40 Days for Others. I used up several leftover bits of yarn and I'm very pleased at being able to put those bits to good use. They will shortly be in the mail and now I am finishing out Lent by knitting preemie hats-- more about that next time.

I just wish I could get my knitting mojo back into gear. I just know it's that tax time funk. My knitting's just been going to the dogs.

Casting on the Twosies

I've finished my first project for 40 Days. I whipped up a little hat in the Live Dangerously-No Swatching pattern, using up some leftover Encore worsted in the process. I ran a bit short at the end and used some of the leftover Fun Fur from the chemo caps to finish it off. Joe says it looks silly, but I choose to disagree.

I also finished his first Welsh Country Stocking. It fits him perfectly; however, he is complaining that the heel feels funny. Since he normally wears tube-type socks, or else socks with very plain heels, the double-thick shaped heel probably does feel unusual. I'm telling him that he'll get used to it. I'd hate to think that I'm putting the effort into these socks that he may decide he doesn't want to wear. And they certainly won't fit me!

So today I decided to cast on for all the number two portions of the projects at hand. At the top is Fetching Mitt Number Two; on the left is the 40 Days Hat Number Two, and on the right is the Welsh Country Stocking Number Two.

And because I'm going a little crazy longing for some spring-like color, I cast on another little number. Socks for me in shades of yellow, blue, and lilac. Who cares if it will soon be too warm for wool socks? It's the colors to cheer my soul.

Even When It's Cold...

....Mother Nature is still at work. The irises push up through the soil, and the weeds that manage to stay green even through the winter start to bud and flower.




I've finished up my fun fur chemo caps. I had bought two balls each of two colors, and each cap needed one plus a little of the second. The two lower caps are each one color. Then I combined the leftover yardage to make the top cap, alternating the colors on each row. And even though I made the same pattern, they look as if they are different sizes. C'est la vie...

Next week I shall pack them up and mail them off, and soon I will start on my 40 Days knitting. Joe's socks are coming along and so far the fit is working for me. I'm working on that long, long first foot now. Thank goodness I bought plenty of yarn!

Joe's Watchcap

Pattern: Based on the Marsan Watchcap by Staceyjoy Elkin, with 104 stitches cast on and a total of 55 rows knit before decreasing at the top. This is a nice hat pattern and is easy to tweak to adjust the size.

Yarn: Caron Simply Soft in black.

Needles: Size 7 circular (16 inch) and Size 7 DPNs, all bamboo.

Finished: February 4, 2007