the first glove

The first of Gavin's gloves is finished, and the second is on the needles. Nearly at the fiddly finger bits, so maybe I'll finish it tonight. They'll do the trick, but the worsted weight wool makes the glove awkwardly bulky. If I were to do them again, I'd switch to a lighter wool, add a lining if necessary, and maybe carry a ribbed pattern across the back of the hand to improve the fit.

The second Mr Pitt's Sock is also progressing. The heel is done and I've worked the gusset decreases. Should finish in the next day or two.

And Hat Wars? I'm one of 46 of the original 139 knitters still in it. But only thanks to the slowness of Canada Post. The hat that'll knock me out of the competition has been on its way for over a week. Might be waiting in the mailbox when I get home from work tonight!

Alpaca Farm Days

Alpaca Farm Days - now there's a holiday I hadn't noticed on my calendar before! It only came to my attention because of a Ravelry post mentioning an Open House at a local farm, Heronview Alpacas. At the farm, Lori loaded up a bucket of feed and led us into the pasture where the Alpacas gathered to eat from our hands. The cria (baby Alpacas) were a bit shy, but the adult Alpacas were very friendly. We lucked out with the weather; the sun shone brightly from the moment we arrived at the farm, a nice change from the earlier drizzle. Honey, Alicia, Dew Drop, Dillon, Gidget, Sunny .... we weren't there long enough for me to figure out which was which, but they struck me as variously sweet, funny, playful and curious characters. Well worth a visit!

In other news, my package of knitted goods has made it to the Warm Hands Network in Ottawa in time for the October shipment to Labrador. In fact, they were so kind as to feature photos of a couple of my knitted blankets in their blog. Glad they like'em!

finished mitts

And that's the second mitt. They're drying now after a rinse in Eucalan. I'm very pleased with how they worked out. The pattern is very clear and well written and the colours are quite nice, I think. A very good use of all those little balls of different colour yarns that were piling up in my stash.

After some consideration, Gavin mentioned that I could make him some fingerless gloves. Surfing the Great Lakes often involves cold, wintery days at the shoreline. Neoprene gloves protect his hands in the icy water, but fingerless gloves would be a good accessory for when he's on the shore taking photos. Searching the Ravelry pattern database turned up Cigar gloves. Like the smoker described in the pattern info, Gavin only needs three fingers of his right hand exposed to operate his camera. What colour? What fibre? Can I buy some fabulous Alpaca and do a stranded colourwork pattern? Nope, he insists. Just plain, sheep's grey wool for him, thanks.

the first mitten

It was almost midnight when I finished the left mitten. For whatever reason, the colourwork charts, the colour changes and the interesting shaping techniques kept pulling me forward until the mitten was done. I was well into the mitten when I discovered that I was going to be learning a new technique - the afterthought thumb. Waste yarn is used to isolate the thumb stitches within the mitten. After the body of the mitten is finished, the waste yarn is removed and the loose stitches above and below are picked up to knit the thumb. It sounded a bit worrisome, but it's easier than it sounds. The result is a very different mitten than what I've knit before - different thumb, longer cuff and very flat geometric shaping at the top - but well fitting and very comfortable to wear. Can't wait to try cuffs with Latvian braids and fringes. Yeah, there's going to be a lot more mittens on my needles I think!

Quo Vadis Mitts

Somehow or another I talked myself into casting on these mitts. I had the best intentions of starting a tree frog, but after downloading the pattern and skimming the 10 pages of instructions I was intimidated. I want a challenge, but 10 pages!

Lately I've been very attracted to stranded colourwork mitten patterns. I've been wandering through the Ravelry pattern database looking at Latvian style mittens for some alpaca that I bought at the Kitchener-Waterloo Knitter's Fair. When I saw this pattern from SpillyJane Knits, I faved it right away. And cast on hours later. It's really easy, and a great way to use up all those odds and ends!

knitting on

The post has come and gone, but still no hat. Although I live to knit on another day, it has been confirmed that I'm living on borrowed time. Yesterday my assassin posted that my death hat was enroute. Oh dear. On the upside, Canada Post confirms that the hat I knitted has reached PointyKnitja, so I'll exit the battlefield with one point.

Meanwhile I've been working away at my second Mr. Pitt's sock - nearly at the top of the heel now. These really are the most comfortable socks I've ever knit. And the pattern is very simple and effective - the ideal masculine socks, I think. But I'm looking forward to having them off the needles, so that I can start something a bit more challenging - maybe a frog?

Hat Wars - the wait continues

Another day, another visit from the Postman, and still nothing .... my Hat Wars competition continues. Yesterday Pointyknitja posted on a Ravelry forum that she had finished and mailed her hat. That's of interest to me, because had she still been working on that hat when my hat arrived in her mailbox, then I would have inherited responsibility for finishing and mailing her hat to her target. She has saved me the trouble.

Of course, Canada Post may have something to say about the whole thing. When I posted the hat they said it would be delivered Tuesday. When I tracked it online on Tuesday, the website said it would be delivered Wednesday (today). And when I tracked it today, the website shows that it supposed to be delivered in Quebec today, but that the package is still in Toronto. Quite possibly the hat is lost in the mail - maybe Pointyknitja will win the whole competition! Maybe the hat intended for me is also lost or delayed in our mail system. Our inept postal system seems to give us Canadians an inadvertent advantage.