A sunny day in Seattle.....?

Yes, it's true! It's one of those rare days around here, where you get up in the morning and the sun is already out! (for those of you not living the great PNW, even on our sunniest days, it sometimes takes a while for it to get going...). It's supposed to be into the mid-70's today---break out the shorts! (yeah, right....) But it does make me happy happy happy! Nice to see something besides grey outside. It's been a loooong winter...


In keeping with my commitment to always be late finishing seasonal projects, here's a pic of the Peekaboo mittens, finally done.





They came out pretty good for my first try at mittens, and the thumbs actually look like thumbs and everything! They were actually finished while the weather was still in winter temperatures, but then sat on the table waiting to be kitchenered (is that a word..?) for a few weeks. Yes, I am lazy about finishing...big shock. But this also involved my realization at one point that there was only ONE mitten left on the table, and the ensuing hunt for the second mitten (thanks to the toe-cat!). Like a good little tiger-in-training, he had hunted it down and dragged it to his lair under the armoir for later licking and chewing enjoyment. Thankfully, he chose only yarn ends to kill--no harm done. Good kitty.


I recently joined ISE4. Here's the scarf in progress for my downstream pal. She lives in a hot weather climate, so I wanted to do something light and breathable. Thought I would try out this Mountain Colors merino ribbon in a little simple lace pattern.



The colors are actually a little richer and more saturated than shown by this picture. I haven't done much lace before, so I thought keeping it simple would go much better, especially with a deadline---I don't want to be late when it's for someone else! I hope she is going to like it. I'm thinking about doing the pattern only halfway through the scarf, and then doing another half in the same direction, and connecting the halves at the center. I noticed with this feather and fan pattern that the other end of the scarf will be shaped differently because of the pattern direction, and don't know if I like that. I thought it might look nicer if both ends looked the same. Anyone with experience with this type of pattern have an opinion on that?

Met Ms. X a couple of days ago for some shopping at Trader Joe's and of course, some sitting around and knitting. I am beginning to believe that she is a bad influence (she is the one, after all, who suggested going to a LYS in Kirkland, as long as we were over there....). As it turns out, the store is in the process of closing and everything was on sale. (I believe the name of the store is Kirkland Yarn & Stitchery, in case you live nearby.) Here is what somehow snuck it's way into my hands (at 20% off, so it was justified)...




It was so soft and pretty, I just couldn't resist. And in my favorite color combo of purples and greens, it could not be left on the shelf! I plan to make a beautiful shawl out of it when I get a little better with the lace-knitting. Also got a great pattern at 30% off to knit with this gorgeous Kid Merino. Good thing I got to the sale a couple of days late---all of the sock yarn was gone already. If you saw my previous post showing the size of my sock yarn stash, you will understand my relief that there was none left!

I'm excited about going to a lace design retreat weekend with Evelyn Clark at the beginning of May! It should be lots of fun, and help to increase my lace-knitting skills so I can get started on my first shawl soon. It's going to be held at a couple of cabins by a lake up near Mt. Vernon, so that should be scenic and fun. The retreat also includes receiving a copy of Evelyn Clark's new book about lace-knitting. I have knit several of her patterns in the past (Fiber Trends) and so am looking forward to seeing her book!

Happy Easter and Happy Spring! I'm going out to enjoy the sunny day :)


>^..^< >^oo^< >^00^<

Yes, there has been a little knitting.....

The blog posts have been leaning a little more toward kitten than knittin' the last couple of weeks---I guess that's what happens when you bring home a new baby! But between all of the extra feeding, cat box scooping, refereeing sibling spats and keeping the new toddler from accidentally doing permanant damage to himself or the house, I have managed to squeeze in a tiny bit of knitting. Of course, that doesn't mean this post will be kitten-free----maybe just kitten-light...

The felted clogs are almost finished! Just need to sew up the bottom seam and weave in ends, and they'll be ready for felting.

Here's the pre-felted clogs with the foot of their intended owner (the human foot, not the minion foot....)

Of course, Toebi has to try them on for size as well. He thinks they fit just fine without the felting....

I've also started on a pair of Peekaboo mittens. I have been looking for a good "convertible" mitten pattern for a while, but since I've never made mittens before, I was also looking for some that weren't too complicated for my first go at it. I happened upon this pattern on MagKnits, and it seems like just what I'm looking for---functional, but not too fussy.

With a few episodes of frogging at various points, here's what I've got so far...

The Technocat is inspecting for his approval of my work so far. I just need to kitchener the top of the hand portion, and pick up the thumb gusset and add the thumb, and the right mitten will be done! I'm a little apprehensive about the thumb part---not quite sure how to arrange the stitches and get them made into a "thumb," but I'll figure it out at some point. I really don't want to mess up the entire mitten trying to learn to do the thumb, so perhaps a little lifeline might be in order for those stitches on the holder, so I can rip back and try again if I don't quite get it the first (or second) time.

Another new skill for me was casting on stitches in the middle of rows without holes or strange stringy things stretching across the gap. After a couple of tries and a few frogged rows, I think I got it!

I also found that knitting the mitten on two circulars is working out much better than dpn's for me. I tried to be a purist and do them on the dpn's, but the cuff was not looking as pretty as I knew I could make it, and too much fussing with needles. So I frogged the dpn version cuff and started over with circs, which has been working out great so far. Now, if I can just figure out that thumb thing, I can finish and move on to the left mitten...