MITTS PICTURE

LOOKING FOR WARM WEATHER

Since we are leaving the cold tomorrow and heading south I thought these mitts would make a nice transition. From full extra warm mittens to just almost mittens. Just finished these fingerless mitts. You can find the pattern on Knitty. From out of the stash, Kimet Croft Fibers Softie 25% Angora and & 75% Rambouillet. The yarn band says it is sport weight but I have quite small hands and I just followed the directions and needle size and the fit is perfect.

The yarn was lovely to knit and it has bloomed since I gave it a nice bath. I am sure with wearing it will be even softer and fuzzier. How cool that will be.

I do have a hint for all of you who love cables. On the final row as I bound off I knit 2 stitches together twice at each cable. This pulls the cable into a nice tight tidy look. I always do this when binding off cables. Most patterns cast on a particular number of stitches and then increase to allow for the cable. Why not my mind says take them out at the end? I find this makes for neater items. Try it sometime you might just like it.

I just returned home this morning after being at my daughters and depositing the yarn making disaster Sam. He will be spending some time with is friends Murphy and Braden. Now Kathy knits so she best keep her eyes on her yarn. We all know what the Sammy can do. He had a fine time last night as only dogs can running like wild men in the house and begging for our attention. Sammy loves to visit with his friends so there is no guilt in leaving him while we search for warmer weather.

This provided me with a short but wonderful grandchildren fix. We went out to dinner and spent some time together. How blessed I am to have them.

First light in the morning we are headed south. To Florida to spend some time with our friends. It is always a great time with great friends out of the cold and snow. It was - 2 this morning on our trip home. It has snowed all day. Enough we say.

I am sort of packed, the yarn is in the car a whole basket full at which hubby rolled his eyes and said "all of this" well you never know what you might need. There is no yarn store in the town we are visiting. I don't want to have any empty needles on this trip. Nice thing is I get to knit and sleep and sleep and knit in the drive down which will take us two days. Are my clothes packed well not exactly. Am I all ready not exactly. It will happen I promise.

This year I will be able to blog on the trip as we are supposed to have wireless internet the entire time. I shall keep you posted.

Have a great weekend everyone.

2 DOWN 10 TO GO

I promised myself a pair of socks a month for the next year. Got a bit behind in January but now I am caught up. These socks I call "Summer Socks" the yarn is a cotton blend Fortissima Cotton and the best part is that it comes from the STASH. I am working hard not to add any more yarn after what arrived here lasst week. I wanted socks to wear in the warmer weather (wishful thinking on my part) so I did a cuff that will turn down.

The cast on is crochet. I chained 56, joined with a slip stitch, then worked the following around. *chain 3, slip stitch into the base chain, slip stitch 3 times into the next 3 chains of the base chain. Join the end to the beginning with a slip stitch.
Using your knitting needles pick up 56 stitches along the other edge of the base chain and away you go. I am not a big crochet person and so the directions are the best I can do with my lack of experience. At least you can start a pair I hope from these directions.

I did a cuff pattern, a row of yarn overs, knit 2 together and then ribbed the length of the cuff so that when you turn it down you have something to hug the ankle and hold the cuff up. Finish as you would your favorite sock.

Now to cast on another pair and get a head start on March. I am also making progress on the "mitten caper". Have a bit of finishing on the Poetry Mittens from the latest Piecework Magazine.

In the mean time I decided I needed some fingerless gloves for the less than stellar weather we are having here. Used the pattern from Knitty and some wonderful angora and wool blend from Kimmet Croft fibers. Will give those a bath tonight to let this wonderful yarn bloom and then tomorrow pictures of these.

It is so cold here that it makes me want to sit inside where it is warm and knit those mittens. How many pairs to go before May. Shall we say 8 or more. We shall see how I do.

A sock a month?

Well if all of you remember I promised my self to knit a pair of socks and I do mean pair every month until the end of the year. Well I took January off but will try and get out 2 pairs this month to make up for the missing pair. Here now are my February socks. I had some great sock yarn and had knit a couple of patterns up and then did not like what they felt like on my foot or looked like for that matter either. So rip rip rip. That was not a problem but then when I knit the sock yarn up again thrifty fool that I am I had to block the finished pair. Here they are. I liked the yarn just knit plain. It is Austermann and the color is Asalea. This is the yarn with the aloe vera blended in. Now where did I buy it???Anyones guess from out of the stash things seem to arrive. Which is today's big lesson to all of those who knit SAVE THE BELLY BANDS!!!! You will never regret this step in your knitting. You know what you are using and can keep up with washing instructions and the like. Another hint is to save one from a large project and write inside the band or attach a note in your notebook. YOU DO KEEP A NOTEBOOK DON'T YOU? saves hours of wondering down the road. If I have yarn that comes on a hank and then wind it. The nice little hole in the center is a grand place to hide the band until you are ready to knit.

Happy to tell all of you I am halfway with the "catch up pair" Stay tuned.

I FORGOT

Forgot yo tell you where the yarn came from http://www.nordicfiberarts.com/

HOLY BALLS OF YARN !!!

Will you just look at what arrived at my house today. The snow is you know what deep, the wind awful but here I am with this delightful box of pure joy to keep me entertained. I made a phone call last week to Debbie at then I told her what I wanted to knit we discussed the colors and the like, I asked about new books and all that. Today all this wonder arrived. No trip out, no hunting the colors I wanted only to find one missing. JUST PERFECT! Not only came quickly but each projects yarn in its own bag and with a little note telling me which pattern I was planning to use. Now it is decision time. What to cast on for first. Perhaps the Poetry mittens from the new Piecework. We changed the colors to some I like better than those of the original. So tonight while hubby is at a meeting I shall knit knit knit. Will keep you posted.

Snow day + Knitting + Law and Order = HEAVEN

Howdy y'all. This is Katie again, Susie's daughter. Today most of the midwest is covered in snow and ice. What does that mean? NO SCHOOL!! They closed the university after I'd only been there an hour (this is significant as it takes me almost an hour to get there). By the time I made it to the car the parking lot was solid ice. The bridge that crosses the Mississippi River was frozen and two cars, one on either side of traffic, had already wrecked. It took me an hour and a half to get home. My windshield wipers were frozen and the car was covered in a half inch of ice. But alas I made it back to Ital Haus. I spent the afternoon doing what else? Knitting of course and watching Law and Order...my favorite activities.

These are the toe socks I am working on currently. They are from Meilenweit Sock Yarn Fall/Winter 2006 booklet and are done useing Lana Grossa Meilenweit Multieffekt sock yarn in color 3030.

These are the slippers I made and am now wearing as it is pretty cold in this old house.

These were made from the book Knit 2 Together and made with Lion Brand Lion Wool. They were seriously the fastest knit ever!! It probably had something to do with the fact that you hold three strands together at once.

This is my newest, most loved creation. It is made from the pattern Chapeau Marnier on Knitty.com with Louet Gems Sport Weight. It is really warm and very cute. I decided on the tan ribbon to match my coat.

I am hoping that the bank calls me and tells me not to come to work tomorrow (crosses fingers) so I can knit alllllllll day. But I doubt the great financial industry in Carbondale will stop just for some snow and ice. Bummer.

Flat Socks What the H?

Now this is something quite new at least to me. FLAT SOCKS!! You ask what in the world. Well you purchase the flat piece of knitting that has been knit and then hand painted. You now start from one end and ravel the flat sock part and knit it into a regular sock following your pattern of choice. How cool is this? I thin since Sammy we all know is the king of messing with a ball of yarn this is the perfect solution. I saw someone a couple years ago at Meg Swansons's knitting camp doing a sweater this way. Very pretty and fun to watch someone do. I don't machine knit or dye or hand paint so I put it away in the recess of the brain. Thought never to be dug out.

Someone a few weeks ago on their blog mentioned the flat sock thing. So in search I went. As we were to be in Prescott Arizona this week I check with the local yarn shop. Sure enough they had it. My dear friend Nancy picked it up and mailed it for me after the ice storm cancelled our trip. It arrived today. Now when do I cast on? Forget dinner, make reservations and knit is looking really good to me right now.

It is so cold and windy here I hate to venture outside. When Sammy went out at 3:30 this morning it was - 6 and the wind was amazing. I froze he scampered around. That dog.

Once the sock takes place I shall keep all of you posted.

AMERICAN GIRL SOCKS

At the request from my friend Lou who wanted simple directions for socks for the American Girl Doll yesterday I worked on the following pattern. Here it is free for you to print and knit. Enjoy

AMERICAN GIRL DOLL SOCKS

#1 needles
Sock yarn


Cast on 30 join being careful not to twist and work knit 1, purl 1 ribbing for 2”.

Knit 14, place remaining 16 stitches on one needle for instep.

Heel Flap:
1. Slip 1, purl 1 across
2. Slip 1, knit across
Repeat these 2 rows 7 times (total of 14 rows)

Turn Heel:
Slip 1, knit 9, SSK, Knit 1 - turn
Slip 1, purl 5, purl 2 tog, purl 1

Repeat these two rows having one more stitch in the center section each row. End with the purl row. 10 stitches remain. Knit across this last row.

Pick up 9 stitches along heel flap; transfer last 5 stitches from heel needle to this needle.

Knit across instep

Pick up 9 stitches on other side of heel and knit the remaining 5 heel stitches onto this needle.

Rounds begin and end at the center of the heel.

Knit to 3 stitches from end knit 2 together, knit 1. Knit instep stitches, knit 1, SSK, knit to center of the heel (beginning of round).
Knit 1 round plain

Repeat one decrease and one plain round until there are 30 stitches once again. (16 on instep needle and 8 one each side needle. You now have 32 stitches total

Knit even until foot measures 2” from center of the heel

Begin toe decreases:

Starting at the center of the heel. . This is the start of the round.

Knit to 3 stitches from the end of the needle, knit 2 together, knit 1. Instep needle, knit 1, SSK, knit to 3 from the end, Knit 2 together, knit 1. K1, SSK, knit to center back of heel. Next round, knit.
Repeat decrease round until 8 stitches remain. Cut yarn and run through the live stitches.

This sock has a funny shape but the dolls foot is a bit different and it fit my Samantha just fine.

No trip just knitting

I thought I would be off on a trip now but the weather which iced in Buffalo, NY a week ago had all of us grounded and here I am at home. Dreadful cold and snow so what does that mean. Time to knit. I am hard at work on a new knitting adventure. Doing mittens and studying their history. Love those mittens but they tend to suffer from the same disease that socks do. The single item syndrome. Oh well that goes with the game. Now I have made the darling little baby mitten from the new Piecework magazine. I have yarn ordered for the poetry mittens as well. So while I have mittens on the brain I hunted in the stash and found the kit I ordered long ago from Finland. I loved making these mittens and think the color shading was something wonderful to do. I love making them and both are now finished. There is still one little baby mitten to go but that should happen quite soon. No I have not forgotten my promise to myself to make a pair of socks each month and I am more than half way on that one. Hopefully tomorrow I shall have a pair finished.

If all goes well this evening and Mr. Sammy the dog does not help out tooooo much I will have more things to show all of you tomorrow. Until then stay warm.