Happy Mornings

The past few mornings have been very happy ones. Tuesday morning, while enjoying my morning coffee, I read an interview that I had done for the lovely Amy of Magpie Patterns. The article was published on her Crafty Bird blog and I was so flattered by all of the lovely things that she had to say about me. If you have never been to her online pattern store I highly recommend taking a visit, she carries the most lovely designs.

But the happiness doesn't stop there, this a.m. began with a visit to luvinthemommyhood where I was able to finally see the unveiled Pasha that Shannon had made for her sister. She did such a lovely job, and what a gorgeous sister! I first met Shannon when she approached me for an interview back when JaneRichmond.etsy.com was Alterknits.etsy.com. Shannon had a handful of followers and was trying to grow her blog, for me it was my very first interview and I can't tell you how excited I was to read the finished product. Shannon now has 315 followers and counting and I highly recommend checking her out, she has amazing taste and blogs about the most wonderful and creative things, her blog is truly eye candy.

Shannon is also hosting a giveaway for one of her lucky blog readers. Up for grabs is one of my patterns of your choice so if you haven't knit one of my designs before here is your chance to get your hands on a free copy!

Happy Thursday everyone!

Beatrice

I've finished my extremely long scarf. Considering it's been on the back burner for a little while it knit up quite quickly and I really enjoyed the lace.



My Mum really liked the scarf and thought that it should be named Beatrice, a name that my sister and I vetoed when we were naming our new kittens nearly a decade ago, this time I agreed.

Materials

• 2 x 170g balls of Lion Brand Thick and Quick in Lemongrass. 196 meters.

• 12 mm needles

• Tapestry Needle

Gauge
8 sts and 10.5 rows = 4 in over st st

Sizes
One Size

Finished Measurements
Approx 7.25 ft long and 8.25 inches wide (after blocking).



My goofy mug.

On My Needles...

On my needles I have Manda Ruth for my lovely cousin Sydney and her new bundle of joy, Evelyn Manda. It's a special project because the cardigan was named for her sister. When a hand knit is meant to be a gift from the family I do the knitting and the rest of the fam pitches in to pay for the yarn. I get to choose the pattern and the yarn so it's always very exciting. For this project I decided to try Blue Sky Alpaca's new line named Spud & Chloe. It is a blend of wool and organic cotton, I am so in love with wool blends and this yarn is yummy! I'm really enjoying myself.

I am also working on a long chunky scarf made with Lion Brand Thick & Quick in Lemongrass. I've had a hankering to make a super bulky lace scarf for some time now. After a number of swatches using different colourways I've settled on this design. It knits up quickly and the lace panel does a great job of holding my interest. I plan to make this scarf very long.


...and lastly I have my very own pair of the French Press Felted Slippers. After making so many pairs in such a short amount of time I really don't work on this one very often. I have one piece finished and seven more to go. I have a feeling this project will get done very slowly!

Quick Mittens for Men

Last year I knit a pair of convertible mittens for Chris made entirely from scraps because I knew he would be wearing them to work. They were certainly the most ugly knitted object I had ever completed but very functional and Chris loved them. He would show them to everyone, he spoke so highly of the mitts that eventually I had a list of requests. I made four pairs last Christmas and once I was mitten-ed out I decided that anyone else who wanted a pair could wait until next year.


I decided to redesign the original pattern to make it easier on myself. I switched from worsted weight to chunky to make the project fly by and I chose to use an easy care yarn because I don't know any men who would be willing to wash their clothing by hand.


As promised, Liam received a pair of his own convertible mittens. I secretly knit an additional pair for Chris. He is very happy with his new mitts, so happy in fact that he likes to show them off. I already have a list to knit for next year...

Materials

• One 100g ball of Patons Shetland Chunky in Earthy Brown. 110 meters.

Note: If using the Tweed version of this yarn 2 balls are required as the yardage per ball is less.

• 6 mm dpns, set of 4

• 2 stitch markers

• Tapestry Needle

• Waste Yarn

Gauge

12 sts and 24 rows = 4 in over st st

Sizes

One Size

Christmas 2009

Cultus Lake at Christmas time.

With Christmas knitting out of the way and all of our travels and visits over with I am excited to settle in at home. I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday season with friends and family and that the new year holds great promise for you and yours.

A Lesson Learned...

What's this mess you ask? Well, let me tell you...

I'll begin by explaining a little something that I do when I am finishing two different kinds of hand knits...

Gift Knits

When I am weaving in ends on an item that is meant to be a gift I take great care to hide them in a way that no one would ever be able to find them, making sure that they will not reappear after wear or washing. This perfectionism began a few years back after my Aunt Karen, a knitting junkie like myself, was admiring a baby sweater I had finished, she hesitated and then asked if she could turn the garment inside out and look at my seams!... all of a sudden I felt very self-conscious.

Knits for Me

On the contrary, when I am finishing an original design I always weave the ends in loosely, in a straight line, making them very obvious, almost temporary. I do this because these pieces stay with me and I don't really consider a design finished until it has passed the final test of wearability.

While I was pregnant I knit this adorable and elaborate hooded cardigan for Elsie. I resisted the temptation to knit a teeny tiny one that she could wear immediately and opted for the 2 year size so that it would get more use. This thing was a labour of love and the end result was stunning. The only issue was that the hood was absolutely enormous, I mean this thing could easily fit my head, it looked really goofy. I retired the sweater to my WIP tote until I could find the perfect buttons. Two and a half years later, with Elsie pushing 2, I've decided to fix the hood before she might actually fit into the sweater. When I tried to uncover my ends I could not for the life of me find them! I kept pulling the knitted fabric this way and that, investigating each and every seam, where were they? With no "ends" in sight I decided to take scissors to it, thinking I might uncover them that way, yeah, right...

I've obviously cut into a stitch and now the entire neck edge is threatening to unravel. I've learned something from all of this, from now on, if a hand knit is going to stay in my house, I will always leave the ends where I can see them...

...and who cares, nobody's looking.

Christmas Knitting

This year is an "away" Christmas for almost everyone in my very large family. Because of this there are many "early" Christmas' scheduled during the weekends leading up to the big day. This means that I can finally blog about some of the Christmas knitting I've been doing since the recipients received their knits last weekend.

For a handful of ladies in my family I chose to knit the French Press Felted Slippers. This was my first felting project, I think the only reason it has taken me this long to learn to felt is because until now I hadn't really stumbled across anything that appealed to me. The verdict... you must make these slippers! If you are dedicated you can easily have a pair of slippers knit, seamed, and felted in less than one day. The pattern is easy to follow, the yarn is inexpensive, and the finished product is absolutely adorable. The girls loved them...

Last Christmas I set out to design each hand knit gift from scratch. Marian, Elizabeth, Frances, Aesderina and Nicholas were all named after their recipient. What a relief to have found a pattern that suits so many on my knit list. Although I can't say I haven't designed any Christmas gifts this year, I can't help myself...

...Liam has been waiting since last Christmas for a pair of his own pop-top mittens, this year I've written a pattern for very quick and easy mitts for men made from chunky yarn... the best part, they are super easy care, they can be washed and dried in the machine! (I'm not sure why his tongue is out, unfortunately this is the only picture I have of the finished mitts! lol)

It has been bitter cold here lately so I whipped up a pair of mittens for Elsie to match my Red is Best Mittens. They are really dear and she doesn't mind wearing them so I believe they are a huge success.



...I hope that everyone is making good progress with their Christmas knitting, for a stress free holiday season remember to be realistic and don't bite off more than you can chew!