Elizabeth's mittens

My sister-in-law, Elizabeth, has been visiting this weekend. Actually, she's been in town for a conference but we've enjoyed her company in the evenings. She brought her knitting along, including these lovely Thrummed Mitts in Cascade 220. She first saw them on the Yarn Harlot's blog and finds that her own mitts just aren't cutting it this winter in Ottawa. Hence, the need for thrummed mittens.

I've seen thrummed mittens on Ravelry, in other blogs and even at shows. But this is the first time I've had the opportunity to see their construction and try them on. Very nice, very warm, very comfy. Uh oh, was that the sound of my queue getting longer?

a full house

In just a few minutes I have to head out the door to pick up my sister-in-law from the conference she is attending downtown. While I'm out Gavin will pop the potatoes into the oven to bake and then follow up with parchment wrapped chicken breasts about 45 minutes later. With luck, dinner will be ready to serve about 20 minutes after I get home. My sister, her husband and her son will also be joining us. A full house!

All of which means that the final repeats of the leg of this sock will have to wait until tomorrow. Unless my company heads home early - then I can probably do a bit more knitting while watching the Oscars.

the Ventures

Yesterday I ditched work early to head up to Casino Rama. Gavin got tickets to see the Ventures for Christmas. We checked into our hotel, gambled at the casino and then went to the concert; lots of fun. And holy, is Nokie Edwards ever impressive! I hope I'm in as good shape when I hit my mid-seventies.

We're home again today, but finding time for knitting is competing with all my other chores. The grocery shopping is done, the laundry is in the works. Now to get started on dinner!

soxy

The last couple of days at work have been busy; too busy to knit. As a result, my first Knotty or Knice sock is only knit about halfway up the leg and there's not much chance of finishing it today. No worries, I'm not on a deadline.

The yarn is from Diamond Yarn, called "Soxy". I picked it up last year at Rose's Fine Yarns for a few reasons:
• it's beautifully soft to the touch
• the muted colourway wouldn't obscure intricate patterns
• the price was right - about 25% cheaper than most sock yarns

So far, no regrets. The yarn is a bit splitty but otherwise it's been a pleasure to knit. Hopefully, with 25% nylon content, it will hold up well to machine washing and drying. Not just because I have two more skeins in the cranberry colourway; but because, if I see the green wave, turquoise or deep sea colourways, I'll be picking them up as well.

wrap and turn heels

For my Knotty or Knice socks I decided to knit them exactly as written including the wrap and turn heel. Until recently I've avoided this heel, in part because I wasn't entirely confident that I was doing it correctly, and in part because the resulting heel leaves the sock tight across the ankle.

That is, I avoided this heel until I knit my Socks for Christy. In her pattern instructions, Linda Fisher explains picking up the wraps so clearly that my doubts vanished:

RS: pick up front loop of wrap from front to back, place it on the left needle and knit it together with that stitch through the back loop

WS: pick up back loop of wrap from back to front, place it on the left needle and purl 2 together

With respect to fit at the ankle, maybe a ribbed sock like this will benefit from a snug heel; otherwise it might end up baggy at the ankle. We'll see, won't we? Depending on my workload, the first sock may be done as soon as tomorrow.

finger yoga

The last few weeks I've been worrying about my brother. Worrying because he'd been rushed to ER twice with heart attack symptoms. This morning we received word that he's feeling better and may be released soon. Doctors are working to diagnose and treat the infection that has led to Myocarditis - inflammation of the heart muscle.

Worrying is very conducive to knitting. What did they call it on the NPR program about the Resurgence of Knitting? Finger yoga. Yes, I agree - finger yoga. It really does have a calming, meditative quality, doesn't it? It gives me the illusion that I'm in control of something while I focus on my mantra "Get well, get well, get well, get well .... "

I've made a start on the first of my Knotty or Knice socks. I'm knitting on smaller needles than the pattern suggests - but 68 stitches around the foot sounds like a lot to me. Besides, many Ravelers reported in their pattern notes that their socks ended up too big. Initially I thought the yarn may be too busy for the pattern. Now that I've knit two repeats I think it'll be okay. The pattern is lovely but you just can't do all these crossing cables quickly. Intricate and fussy work, but worth it.

WIP wrestling match #5

The bell has rung on the final round of this match - finally, these socks are done. Through this pattern I learned a new bind off worked in two colours with a result that looks braided. I also learned a new cast on - the Eastern or Turkish cast on - which has become my favourite cast on for toe up socks. I learned how to M1L and M1R to increase while maintaining the colourwork pattern. I learned about turning mid-row and slipping stitches to get back to the working yarn of the third colour to purl those stitches. And, I got a whole lot more practice at keeping even tension and loose floats when knitting in two colours.

What's left? WIP match #2, my second lengthwise scarf, is on hold until I get one more ball of yarn. There's a tree frog awaiting front fingers - I'll sort that out this evening. And I need to get back to my knitted shelf liners. Nothing small and portable though, so I guess I'd better cast on some new socks. Hurray, new socks!