Argyles, Mittens, and Gina's Contest (oh my)

Gina is having another contest; this one is all about UFOs. Gina is asking for,

“A list of all the UFOs that you hope to accomplish by the end of THIS YEAR.
(I'll be printing out my own on Friday...FO Friday, of course.)

-1 ticket to each person to write to me with his/her list

-2 additional tickets to you if put the list on your blog along with my FO Friday button with link to my blog...(send me the link as well in the email when you've blogged)

-3 additional tickets to you if you do something unique to your list.
Unique in any way. Good luck and....start typing!!!”

I’m not overly ambitious, knowing that there will be patterns that strike my fancy or perhaps someone will show up with a gorgeous knit that I WILL NEED TO MAKE THIS INSTANT.
Anyway, here’s my list:
1. Corazon mittens from Knitty - OTN *see below
2. %$^&* Argyle Socks - OTN *see below
3. Girly cabled hat in pink
4. Twinkle toes from knitty for the girl
5. The Ultimate Gift Sweater for Matt in some kind of cotton/ cotton blend.
6. Monkey Socks for MIL - OTN
7. My own pattern cabled and beaded socks - OTN
8. My own pattern super girly striped pullover – preschooler sized
9. Tote ‘em bag for 1. My mom in pinks and reds, 2., My aunt in blues and browns
10. Another sweater for moi (springish)
11. Socks and more socks for me!

So, what’s on your list?

My argyle sock class on Sunday was so much fun. I did end up frogging the sock I had started in class because it was too lightweight. I ended up buying some Helio and it's much better. It's my first colorwork project and I'm really enjoying it. Here is what I accomplished on Monday night during Studio 60:



It's not hard to do, just a bit fiddly to get going. Mine's not pretty; I really need to work on my gauge. Oh, and did you notice the lines on the left side? Yes, I did mess up and start the brown as the left-slanting stripe and the blue as the right-slanting. No, I was not about to frog four rows of argyle. I'll just duplicate stitch over them later. I'm lazy like that.

Speaking of frogging, I did frog three inches of my first corazon all the way down to the ribbing. I tried to make a gusset thumb instead of an afterthought thumb, without thinking about the yarn that would have to be carried across the thumb. It was too tight when I tried it on, so ribbit, ribbit. I think I'll still try the gusset, but while incorporating both colors instead of carrying. I'm still learning.

Tiny FOs

I've put wavy down, maybe for good. Maybe I'll just take her out back and shoot her, put us both out of our misery. I really like the pattern, I love cascade. I despise the color I'm working with. It looked so pretty in the store, a delicate pink nestled in with the brighter, bolder hues. Sweet and girlish. Now after 221 yards of stitches, it looks too pale, anemic even. I hope to finish and dye it something else, maybe purple or red. In the meantime, get a good look, she might not be back for a while:



I had to put it down to knit The Girl a pair of mittens, since she absolutely refused to wear her store-bought pair, but loves to put on big brother's hand knit pair. The fact that it was 6 degrees out on Friday really motivated me to finish these:


Basic mitten pattern in Knitpicks Swish, color Ballerina (of course)

I decided that The Boy needs a new hat since his favorite hat doesn't cover his ears. The only hat that does cover his ears has a folded brim, and he has trouble adjusting it. I wanted a hat that would be just long enough to come past his ears. This is what I came up with:



Again, basic hat pattern with a cable and rib. Cascade 220 in red. I really like the red.

Knitting for kids is so satisfying.

Don't sweat the Hourglass

I totally forgot to post pictures of my Hourglass sweater. It was such an easy knit, and I almost didn't finish it. I think if it weren't for my knitting group, this sweater would still be languishing my office/ sewing room/ yarn storage room. Please don't mind the awful photo, it was the best I could do this morning.

Oh, you want specifics? Okay.

Pattern: Hourglass Sweater from Last Minute Knitted Gifts, by Joelle Hoverson.
Size/ Yarn: I went with the second smallest (37") figuring that it would be form fitting. I made a good choice here, the fit is wonderful. I used 10 skeins of Knitpicks Andean Silk in Chocolate. This was one skein more than the pattern called for. I did not have enough yarn. I ended up knitting the inside hem of the neckline in a different yarn, but kind of like the way that turned out. I love the feel and sheen of the Andean Silk, but it's kind of pilly. I wouldn't recommend this yarn for a sweater you're going to wear a lot.

I started this sweater around the end of October and finsihed January 14th or 15th.

Neckline hem.

The Ice Storm

I've always had a fascination with bunnies. It probably started as a little girl, when a rabbit was the only pet we didn't have. We had every animal under the sun. My family even had a pet squirrel, but that was before I was born when they lived in Texas. My in-laws have wild rabbits that live in their townhouse development, huge grey beasts that would give any dog a run for its money. When I’m visiting them in MD I like to stand on their deck and watch from a safe distance, but truth be told, those rabbits scare me a bit.

This morning, in the fresh snow, I discovered a set of rabbit prints in my driveway.

The boy and I were on our way across the street to catch the bus, so we only gave them a cursory glance. After he was off, I went back to investigate. They start on the bank of the little stream on the edge of my property, lope across the driveway and end in a small thicket of trees in front of my house. I wonder if there’s a rabbit warren under there.

So, remember on Monday I told you we were having an ice storm? Well Monday night the power went out right around 7 pm. The ice was causing power lines to go down all over the place. There were somewhere around 10,000 homes without power in my area. Monday night we toughed it out, and the power came back on around 10. It went back out sometime during the night and stayed out until, oh, around 9:30 on Wednesday night. We stayed at a local hotel on Tuesday and Wednesday night and the kids thought they were on vacation. Now we’re back home, safe and warm.

Icy tree

I didn’t manage much knitting, but I did start the Wavy scarf from Knitty. Blogless Amanda had knit one that looks so freaking amazing on her. After seeing it in person, I fell in love. She is currently knitting a second one, and Gina and I have both started our first.

She doesn’t look like much yet, but she’s growing.

The second along I’m going to be starting is Corazon, also from Knitty. I’m doing these with Lora, who’s probably already finished with her first mitten and halfway done with the second. The incredibly talented and beautiful Gina picked up some scrumptious RY Cashsoft baby DK for me when she and the gang went up to Webs this past weekend. Have I told you lately how much I love Gina? She’s awesome. Anyway, these colors are perfect and I can’t wait to cast on.

Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey* (socks)

Okay, are you expecting pictures of a fully-completed Hourglass sweater? Sorry to disappoint, but it's currently drying on a towel in my bedroom, and I thought a modeled shot would make a bigger impact. Instead, I will share some photos of my in-progress Monkey Socks from the latest Knitty. I do love Cookie's patterns. The Hedera socks are probably my favorite socks to wear. I am going to be giving these socks to my awesome mother-in-law. Since she dresses a bit conservatively, I needed a solid color yarn. Gloss from Knitpicks really fits the bill here. The yarn is wonderful to work with, sumptuously soft and silky.



I can’t resist the urge to post a photo of my very first adult-sized sweater, so here’s a tease. Modeled shots plus all the details will be on the next post.




Oh, and here's a tip, don't try to blog during an ice storm. You'll end up retyping your post ten times. Guaranteed.

*song title from The Beatles (white album)

Hat trick!

I finished a hat for the husband last night, so I thought I'd show off the last three for a hat trick:

1. Matt's Hat. He picked the color, I picked the yarn. After showing him some pics, he decided he liked this pattern. I did some surfing and found a free and non-Japanese version here.
I made it longer and with another cable to accommodate a large husband-sized head.

2. My version of Matt's hat. It was originally supposed to be for him, but came out too small. It's mine baby.


3. Last, another picture of my handspun by Gina cashmere hat:


Now I can't decide if I want to cast on a pair of socks for the Mother-in-law, or finish my Hourglass sweater...

A New Year, new socks and a new baby

Happy new year to you all. The husband and I celebrated in our typical fashion, Chinese takeout and falling asleep at 12:01. We do love our traditions.

I finished the father-in-law socks:

Yarn is Austermann Step, knit in plain stockinette on 1s. How I love this yarn.


Now, my baby. She is just five months old, and the sweetest little kitty eva! Ericka and Chris brought her back from their weekend trip last night, and she is fitting in just fine. She is great with the kids and super-friendly. She doesn't have a name yet, but for now the Boy has named her Fluffy.