Sunday Knitting

My not-quite-matching set of winter accessories are done.

First, the Gaptastic Cowl. Here it is doubled, similar to how I would wear it.

And here it is in its natural state.

The Squall hat:

And Squall mittens:

I'm actually surprised by how different the colors look in that picture. Maybe it's the light? Anyhow, they don't look quite that different in real life.

Here are the mittens with one of them turned so you can see the garter stitch palm:

My fingers got very cold while I was taking these pictures.

The patterns are:
GAP-tastic Cowl by Jen Geigley, a free Ravelry download
Squall Set by Glenna C. The patterns can be purchased separately for $4, or the set for $6.

I used Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Bulky for all the accessories. The patterns were all well-written and easy to follow, and the projects quick and satisfying. None of these are blocked in the photos, because I've been wearing them all since the moment I finished them. They're exactly what I was looking for, and perfect for these very cold days we've been having.

Sunday Knitting

I finished my Jack-in-the-Box Mittens over a week ago but didn't get a chance to take photos what with Thanksgiving and whatnot. I actually took the mittens and camera to Maine with me thinking that I'd take photos there, but I don't know who I think I was kidding. Anyhow, here they are.

Afterward I realized that the thumbs are obscured. Sorry. Someday I'll get the hang of this photography thing. Or at least won't be too lazy to retake photos. But that is the back of the flipped open one. Here's the front.

And a close up of what the opening looks like.

Here you can see the opening where your hand comes out of the bottom part, and the flip-top which, when closed, overlaps a bit with the bottom to keep everything snug. If you button it.

I had grand plans to go out yesterday for buttons but it was snowing, and though it looked mildly festive from inside it was actually rather unpleasant. But I scrounged around in my card catalog and found these buttons:

Those are actually the backs - the fronts are red/orange. These mittens are attended to go with a bluish scarf and these buttons may work. I can't really think of what color would be perfect - recently I've tended to want buttons that just completely blend in with the yarn, but that's rather boring, isn't it? These might be a little small but I'm sure I can tighten those already-messy button holes.

Next, according to my plan, is a hat to match these mittens. (Why do I keep wanting to type "kittens"?) Anyhow, hats have becoming quite vexing to me in recent years for some mystifying reason. They rarely come out right anymore, and now I'm stuck on just choosing a pattern. Ideal would be a hat with the same cable pattern as the mittens but I don't think that exists and I'm not about to try and figure out hat decreases in a complicated cable pattern. So I'll likely do something rather plain-ish.

In the meantime, next week I'll have an update on my Livingstone Cardigan. I bet you just can't wait.

Sunday Knitting

I came very close to ripping out my Jack-in-the-box Mittens. My mood has been of the ripping-out sort recently, what with the Mottled Rib Sweater fiasco and that nameless sock I started and hadn't even gotten around to telling you about before frogging it completely. The Jack-in-the-box Mitten I started had been languishing in my knitting basket and I decided I needed to face it one way or the other.

Even when I started it, I wasn't crazy about the wrist ribbing pattern. Then as I went on, I realized the mitten isn't knit tightly enough to be as warm as I would like it. I had just about talked myself into trashing the project entirely when I pulled it out and realized that the first mitten was closer to being done than I remembered, so I spent an hour or so just finishing it and starting the second one.

Here's a close-up of the offensive ribbing.

It's a little fussy. I can't explain why I didn't just knit plain ribbing instead of what the pattern called for. Maybe I should make it a goal for 2013 to get out of my lazy mindset and actually modify a pattern rather than knit it as written and then complain about it.

One thing that saved this project for me - in addition to the fact that I was farther along on it than I had realized -is that I quite like the cable pattern.

Cables are just so satisfying, aren't they?

If I can get my nose out of a book for two seconds, I may actually finish this before Thanksgiving.

Sunday Knitting

Hello! It's been a shamefully long time since I've posted about my knitting, and I'm afraid I have little to show for it. After posting about the Jack-in-the-Box Mittens lo those many weeks ago, they've languished in my knitting basket untouched until two days ago. When I picked them up again it took me a good twenty minutes to figure out where I had left off before I could start knitting again. I had helpfully left a post-it note over the part of the pattern where I had left off. Not so helpfully, the post-it had notes on it from a previous part of the pattern and I didn't realize for quite a while that although the post-it was relevant the writing on it was completely irrelevant. Anyhow, I eventually managed to pick up where I left off.

This will be so much nicer looking when it's done. Also! I totally forgot to take pictures of the back, which is where the cables are. So just imagine that you're looking at a really lovely cabled pattern.

I had forgotten the extent of my hatred for double-pointed needles. Honestly, how do any of you use these? Why do they still exist? They are the most fiddly, annoying, obnoxious tools that never fail to make me feel like I'm trying to juggle a porcupine. They manage to always be in the way of each other, yet not be close enough together to make the knitting come out right. They are so annoying they defy the laws of physics.

Anywho, in the picture the thumb stitches are on white scrap yarn and the palm stitches are on the purple scrap yarn. I'm knitting the top and just have another inch or so before binding off. Then I go back to the palm and thumb and finish those. Hopefully soon, then I can knit the other mitten, then I can burn those stupid needles so I never make the mistake of using them again.

I also finished my first Ribbed Lace Sock and have begun the second.

I know, it doesn't look like much, does it? But it feels great and will keep my feet warm this winter.

Progress has continued on my Les Mis Wrap as well, though I fear it may be a scarf instead of a shawl. More on that as it progresses. I only have 1.5 pattern repeats left out of a total of 12, so I'm nearing the finish line. I didn't take a picture because it just looks like a big mess of gray yarn right now and nobody wants to look at that. To be honest, I haven't even removed it entirely from my knitting bag in quite a while so I have no idea what it looks like myself. But it's definitely not pretty, I'm sure of that much.

It's sad to see summer coming to an end, but the bright spot is that summer is followed by knitting season. I intend to wrap up these projects and start on a whole slew of new ones - I've got pretty yarn and fun patterns just waiting for me. It's tempting to push these dull-colored projects aside and start on them. Seriously, I don't know what made me knit grey, dark green and off-white projects all at the same time, but I can't let that happen again!

Sunday Knitting

I almost didn't have anything to post about today, but then yesterday I was suddenly inspired to cast on for the Jack-in-the-Box Mittens from Robin Melanson's book Knitting New Mittens and Gloves. I love looking at all the lovely pictures in this book, but this is my first project from it.

The yarn is some Cascade 220 that I bought sometime last winter when I decided I needed to make mittens and a hat to go with this scarf. I have no idea why I would make a scarf without also buying coordinating yarn for the other accessories I'd be wearing with it, but I've done that sort of thing over and over again. I also bought some bulky yarn in the same color for a hat, and hopefully I'll be able to wear it all together this coming winter.

For reasons I cannot explain, I forewent my usual magic loop method and actually began the project on double pointed needles. You may be aware that my hatred of dpn's burns with the heat of a thousand suns, so I do not know what possessed me to use them. (What next? Will I join a religious cult? Apparently anything is possible.) I don't even have both the sizes required, so I didn't bother starting with a smaller needle size. I find this isn't usually necessary anyhow, though only time will tell if that's the case with this pattern.

After the swearing that accompanies casting on and working the first row on double points, I settled into the project with moderate success. As always, it was extremely awkward and every now and then I realized I was using only 4 needles instead of all 5. This is why I prefer working with only one - or at the very most, two - needles.

The cuff is made with an unusual pattern, but I think I like it. I'm quite happy to have a quick little project on the needles.