MY Mitts!! - March 03, 2007

As I mentioned before, my daughter and I own the yahoo group called KnitExchange. The current swap is for gloves/mittens/mitts. You can see some of my mitt creations in earlier blog entries. But this morning, I received the mitts Alanna made for ME! And I LOVE them. And the package came with some other goodies, like CHOCOLATE and some Mary Kay SatinHands hand cream (if you haven't tried this, ya oughtta!!!!)

Snowday #5! Beaded Mitts - February 14, 2007

3 snow days last week, 2 this week. Tomorrow I will be required to go to work, regardless of conditions. But I have been working on a mitt pattern, to help out my daughter (Tracie) on one of her exchanges. We chose a wrist-warmer pattern by Jackie E-S of HeartStringsFiberArts.com. Jackie has a way of creating something exquisitely beautiful, but deceptively easy. Pictured here are her Simple Beaded Wristlets. Tracie needed to make the mitts a little larger. Jackie's suggestion is to do another repeat of the design, but unfortunately, this would have made the mitts too big. Instead, we chose slightly larger yarn. I think the results will be perfect. After finishing the first mitt, I discovered a mistake. Rather than take it apart and frog back to the mistake, I will simply make the same mistake on the other wristlet.

Well, I better get off here and get busy on that other wristlet - I still have socks I need to finish designing for Laura Andersson's next Friendly Socks book!

Fair Isle Tam - February 12, 2007

It sure was nice having those 3 snow days last week! And they say there is a distinct possibility of having another one tomorrow, although I am not keeping my hopes up. Better to be pleased than to be disappointed!

One of the yahoo groups I belong to is AtMyHouse, a crochet and knitting group. I coordinate some of the exchanges - Hat/Cap, Poncho, and Choker. Using the technique for fair isle that I practiced when I made Mary's mitts, I made the tam you see here. Not the best picture - it's still on the dinner plate that I use for "blocking" and it wouldn't totally fit on my scanner. The gray yarn is all light gray - no dark around the edges. That's just shadow.

Because I decided to do K1, P1 for the edging, I used the tubular cast on. Makes a really nice finished edge that you can also insert elastic thread into to adjust the fit if necessary. I learned the cast-on technique and made the design from the book, "Knitted Tams" by Mary Rowe.

BTW, Mary says she loves her mitts. Says I can't have them back, even if I want them!

"Easy" Wrist Warmers Done! - February 07, 2007 - 7:13 p.m.

As you can see from the picture, the finished product looks quite small, but as you can also see, it fits beautifully! Now I'm really into mitts all of a sudden. :) I have some patterns by Jackie E-S of Heart Strings Fiber Arts that I can't wait to make! But first, I need to make a hat of some kind for another exchange partner. I'm thinking of making a tam with the yarn that's left from Mary's mitts.

More on Mitts - February 07, 2007 - 3:43 p.m.

Mary's mitts were made out of two colors from Plymouth's Encore DK. Controlling both yarns in the same hand was a revelation to me and resulted in the most even "Fair Isle" I've ever made!
If you are looking for a super simple - and quick - fingerless mitt pattern, check out the book "Not Just More Socks" by Sandi Rosner. On page 28 is a pattern simply entitled "Wrist Warmers." This pattern produces a mitt that is about 6" long and looks deceptively small. I just finished the first one and it looks like it might, maybe, fit a child. But I tried in on, and it feels wonderful! Can't wait to get the second one done. When I do, I'll scan my hand wearing one with the other beside my hand so you can see the difference. I'll post that pic here.
Since I've been knitting for SO long, and because circumstances earlier in my life forced me to learn to knit without looking, I can now read while I knit - unless of course it's an intricate or lace pattern. I have a whole series of books from Guideposts about various women in the Bible. These last 3 days off work (yes, no school again today!), I have been a reading and knitting FOOL! I've read 3 books and am now starting my 4th! Next, I'm going to read Lillian Jackson Braun's latest "The Cat Who....." book.
Happy knitting!

Mary's Mitts - February 06, 2007; 9:09 pm

Just finished Mary's mitts! There were a lot of fun to make and went quicker than I thought they would.

Ponderings and Musings - February 06, 2007

It's cold and brisk in Central Ohio. We don't normally have single digit temperatures with sub-zero wind chill, so most aren't prepared for it. Consequently, our schools have been closed for 2 days and maybe (BIG maybe) tomorrow as well. Since I work for the schools, I don't have to report to work when school is closed. I've been having a wonderful 2 days. First of all, I can keep my slowly healing foot propped up without guilt. I was able to travel 2 hrs out of town with my wonderful daughter, Tracie, yesterday afternoon to quietly sit in on a meeting she had to attend. I've been knitting, and reading, and knitting, and watching select shows on TV, and knitting, and - well, you get the picture! This morning I spent quite a bit of time on the 'net surfing for patterns to make my KnitExchange partner's mitts/mittens/gloves and looking for a pattern for Tracie to use for her partner. My son's girlfriend sent me a message to chat for a few minutes. Now Mary is from Louisiana. She has lived in the greater New Orleans area most of her life. She lost everything in Hurricane Katrina. She immediately found some friends to room with, got another job, and met my son, who was down there with his dad as a two-man paramedic team. We tease Mary that she is my son's Katrina souvenir. All that to say, in the course of conversation, I asked her if she was warm enough. She's at work, a program analyst, trying to type with blue fingertips! I had just read a pattern that talked about mitts being perfect for hands with cold fingers. The theory is that if the bulk of the hand is warm, it will help keep the fingers warm. Mary was interested in trying some mitts! So here I am, making Mary a pair of mitts before I start on my partner's. :) While I was knitting, for some reason memories of my mom came flooding in my mind. She was so proud of my knitting, at my beginning efforts to design, of the things I made to help try to keep her tiny, elderly body warm. She's been gone nearly two years now. I miss her so! I'm learning a new technique working on these mitts for Mary - how to knit with 2 colors, but held in the same hand. I've always done this two-handed and have been frustrated by the "uneveness" of my sts. I really like the way this is turning out. Hope to have pics up soon!