Things done on Thursday

look familiar?

After I wove in the last end at the thumb of my Susie's Reading Mitts I pulled them on to get ready for the photo. I fell for this pattern based on the main feature photo on the Ravelry pattern details page so with my mitts done, I decided to stage a similar photo. Another little crazy stunt that Gavin helped me out with.

As you can see in my photo - and in the original photo on Ravelry if you're paying attention - the stockinette sleeve of the mitt is quite loose fitting. That's the only thing I'm not keen on. Other than that, I'm really happy with the pattern. Picot edges give a nice finish to the cuffs and the hand openings. A simple eleven row lace pattern that adds visual interest. And the length of the hand and thumb are actually perfect: long enough for warmth but not so long as to impede functionality. No surprise then that my mitts are the five-thousand-and-eighty-third project  made with this pattern as logged by Ravelry. 5083! Wow.

There won't be much time for knitting for the rest of the day. Instead, today needs to be all about sewing. There are four table cloths to complete for tomorrow. I made a start on them yesterday so I should be able to complete these in a few hours. The biggest challenge is finding a large enough work area to spread the fabric for cutting and pinning. With the sewing machine out yesterday I took a minute to sew up a little side project - a neoprene case for my Kobo Vox. A few days ago I spotted a likely looking neoprene pencil case at Dollarama. A quick cut with a rotary cutter to shorten it, a new hem and voilà, a Kobo Vox case for $1.25. Now that's crafty!

WIP Wednesday

almost a pair

Wednesday morning already! Where does the time go? I cast on Susie's Reading Mitts on Monday and the pair is almost done. They're lovely in this dark brown alpaca. I expect these will be my everyday mitts when trekking by train to the subway to the bus to my workplace. Fingerless mitts are very handy when I need to scrounge for a subway token, or search out a train pass to show the inspector, or even to flip the pages on my eBook reader. Yes, they'll definitely be put to good use.

The original intention was to knit these for a friend for Christmas but that plan has changed. These mitts work up too large for her and with all that stockinette the mitts aren't as fitted as I'd like. Yesterday alittlebitsheepish left a comment on my blog in which she recommends a pattern called Swirling Gauntlets which looks very nice, so I'm going to try those next. And maybe, after that, some Glorious Cabled Mitts. Seems like I'm on a fingerless gloves kick at the moment!

Happy Wednesday everyone, and happy birthday Gavin! Have a look at Tami's Amis to see what everyone else is up to!

a mitt for me

one mitt, mostly

Yesterday morning I cast on the first fingerless mitt from the pattern for Susie's Reading Mitts and by yesterday evening I was binding off the hand. Now that's a quick knit!

I'm knitting with some unlabeled Alpaca purchased at one or another knitting show over the last couple of years. I do recall that it was purchased with mitts in mind, and I think I actually started and frogged a pair that were knitting up too huge. The alpaca yarn is lovely soft and warm - perfect.

The first mitt fits me beautifully; that pretty much guarantees that they'd be way too big for my friend. Too bad, I guess I'll have to keep them for myself. Good thing too, considering I misplaced my own fingerless mitts a couple of weeks ago. My old pair may have been accidentally left in a fitting room in one of the two hundred plus stores in Sherway Gardens, but I can't be sure.

One thing? All that stockinette means that the wrist area is not very fitted. Once these are done I am going to cast on a pair for my friend but in a different pattern. Suggestions?

done, doing and to do

clicking along

As you can see from the photo, the length of leg knitted has doubled since yesterday, which can only mean one thing: the red sweater is done! Yippee! See you at the end of the week for a finished object Friday.

While working away at this first Denmark sock I've been thinking about how lovely this alpaca yarn is. It'd be perfect for a pair of fingerless mitts! Wait a minute ... didn't my friend Nancy mention that she'd like some fingerless mitts for Christmas? Yes, she did. And now that I think about it I'm pretty there's enough alpaca in various natural shades for mitts. Here's the pattern I'm looking at: Susie's Reading Mitts. Cute, huh? Think I'll give them a whirl.

Today's the first day of my vacation and although there's a road trip planned, I'm pretty sure there'll be lots of time to knit this evening. Happy Monday!

Year of Projects - Denmark Post 02

the first couple of inches

Knitting on the Road: Canada • Canal du Midi • Conwy • Dalarna • Denmark • Friday Harbor • Hiiumaa • Huron Mountain • New England • The Road to Oslo • Santa Fe • Spey Valley • Christmas in Tallinn • Traveler's Stockings • Uinta Cabin • Unst • Whitby 

I'll confess that there hasn't been much progress on my Denmark sock. After knitting the first sock almost to the heel I decided to rip it out entirely and reknit adding one repeat to each side of the sock to bring the round to 72 stitches. That's a much better number considering I'm knitting this sock with lighter yarn and smaller needles than the pattern suggests.

Things have been too busy around here to get much knitting done. Last week the pressure was on to push through as much work as possible before I started my two week vacation on Friday. Saturday we picked up my brother at the airport - he's flown in for a week-long visit from Fredericton. What little knitting time I've had has been devoted to my red sweater, which I'm happy to report should be completed later today or sometime tomorrow. With the sweater off the needles I should have more time for this sock. And then there's the fact that Christmas is just 48 days away ... better get a move in! Expect a big update next week!

wip wednesday

shown here in short sleeves

My big red swatch is finally turning into a sweater, and none too soon! I plan to be wearing this sweater for the big event just nine days from now and there's one more sleeve and a couple more inches on the body to knit. Can I finish it by Friday? That might be a bit too optimistic, but we'll see.

This is my third attempt at this sweater, now two sizes smaller than my first attempt, and the fact is I could have gone a size or two smaller still. The yoke is very loose, so much so that I'm contemplating adding a band of elastic around the inside to shore it up. It'd be more flattering if the sweater cinched in at the bottom of the yoke. I suspect that adding the second sleeve will also help to tighten up the yoke.

Despite the aforesaid, I'm pretty happy with this sweater. It's cute and comfy and the yarn is all from my stash. The colour is a perfect cranberry red, which is exactly what I had in mind. Now, time's a-wasting; I'd better get back to knitting and get a move on that second sleeve! To see what everyone else is up to have a look at the list at Tami's Amis.

new toy

oooooh, shiny!

The last several days have been crazy busy, and there's no sign of the pace letting up. I've been knitting away at the red sweater whenever I find a moment, but my Denmark socks have been pretty much ignored.

Yesterday a shiny new toy arrived by post - my new Kobo Vox eReader. It's marketed as a colour eBook reader. But it's really a low cost colour Android tablet. Sure, it's not as slick or powerful or fast as an iPad, but it's a better size for carrying around and much cheaper. So far ...

• I've downloaded and read a book
• I've downloaded and read a newspaper
• I tried reading the online preview of Interweave Knits, but first I need to install flash
• I've browsed online on the Ravelry forums
• I downloaded and played Angry Birds, which is turning out to be a dangerous time suck

Next step? Download knitting patterns, upload photos and figure out how to blog from my tablet. Wheeee, this is so much fun!