Knutty

Once again this year I overbooked my Knitting Dance Card for Christmas, committing myself to knit far more projects than I could possibly manage. Unless of course I neglected all of my other responsibilities and just sat by the fireplace knitting all day for a few weeks. Which, actually doesn't sound bad...

But, I ended up knitting seven pairs of kids' mittens, the youngest getting stripes, two middlers (including a neighbor who had a birthday) got camo...



One middler and the oldest got blue with skull-and-crossbones...



But my favorite has to have been Williams. He wanted syringes on his mittens. Really. He was so excited...

There has been a flurry of fingerless glove knitting in our circle of friends, and I finally got on the bandwagon and worked up a few pair. My pattern called for a new technique, the provisional cast on, and kitchener stitch to seam. More work than I think was worth...

But, they made a nice mitt....

Next time around, I used a regular cast on and bind off, and the seaming went faster. I also for the first time have been working with "nice" yarn that I found at The Yarn Garden. Very lovely to work with, and something I'd like to continue to do as budget permits. These are a matched set I made for a mother and daughter.

There were a couple of men's winter hats in there, as well, which I don't have pictures of. But, I am told, they are very comfy.

My last "Christmas" project is now on the needles, probably the most compicated pattern I have attempted to date. I'm still not certain I'll be able to finish it as written, or even have it work out acceptably, but I'm giving it a shot. If I don't stab myself in the eye with a double pointed needle, these will eventually be fingerless gloves for KitMama.

Again with the lovely yarn from Yarn Garden. This pattern calls for two sets of DPN's, a cable needle, and several stitch markers. I'm using four markers, three row counters, and a stitch holder instead of the cable needle (plus another stitch holder once I get to the thumb). I've never done cables before, I took some time to watch a few You Tube videos, then did a swatch using the called-for pattern (yes, an actual swatch! me!). It took a few tries, but I eventually figured out how to read the recipe, and it's working out nicely. The cable pattern is counted out in rows separately from the thumb gusset (which increase every third row, six times...yeah, I know, what a pain in the arse to keep count).

Anyway, I am enjoying the challenge and learning new skills. I do, however to pay attention while knitting this project. Which isn't a bad thing. Taking my time might be kind of nice....