just one?

Not my most successful month. . . at least not in blog project terms. One pair of purple mittens is headed to Maine:

I had hoped to make more, but I was distracted by several other knitting projects (a sweater, baby hats for the local NICU, socks for a friend, socks for another friend, a couple of hats, a blanket to be mailed to Afghans for Afghans. . .). The kid who gets this pair isn't going to care that I made just one this time. There will be more before next winter.

And remember this? It came out pretty nicely, I think:

Summer Wind cowl, designed by Carrie Sullivan, Irish Girlie Knits; unknown sock yarn (probably Auracania Ranco)

I will definitely make this pattern again. . . in fact, there's a blue and white skein that's looking quite possible.

Happy Leap Day! And an extra happy birthday to those of you who only really get to celebrate every four years.

January scarf

Well, yeah, the "January" scarf is not quite done. Almost, though. . .

It is a lovely, rich shade of purple, and I have struggled to photograph it. If you average out these two in-progress photos, you'll be close:

The yarn escaped from its ball band long ago, but I suspect it may be Araucania Ranco. The pattern is Summer Wind (that's a Ravelry link, so if you're not on Ravelry, I don't think it will work). Beautifully written, and I will make it again. I expect to finish this cowl this weekend and will then struggle some more with photographing purple to show it to you in its final glory.

twinkletoes

One of this year's knitting resolutions (let it hereby be noted that I only make resolutions that are going to be fun) was to do more colorwork. It's certainly not hard to do more when you've done none at all for the last several years. First entry in the colorwork category:



I followed one of Drops' free patterns - I love that they made all of their wonderful patterns free - using Bartlett Yarns' Maine wool. I will be making a pair for myself, and have at least two pairs planned for gifts. You work the garter stitch portion first, back and forth, then join and work in the round for the patterned, stockinette portion. I made the smallest size and had to tinker with ljus placement to get them just right, but felt terribly clever when it all worked out. 

Highly recommended.

If you're going to San Francisco. . .

The deadline for Afghans for Afghans' current campaign is February 29. I've done better than usual for this one, and today I am mailing one sweater and three pairs of mittens:

(The aqua pair has been washed again since this photo and the stitches are now nicely evened out.)

The red and green mittens were knit with worsted weight yarn held double. The aqua mittens are Lopi. All were made following the smallest stitch and row counts from this mitten pattern, producing a small/medium adult size. I love the fabric that's created using a double strand of worsted.

For the sweater, I used Knitting Pure and Simple's Bulky Topdown Pullover for Children (#112). I had five skeins of this blue Lopi, and the pattern said that was enough for the largest size. I was skeptical, but even after adding an inch and a half to body and sleeves, I did not run out of yarn. I'll make this again! (The pattern is available for purchase in hard copy from most yarn shops, and as a downloadable pdf file from Patternfish.)

for February

February's category is easy: small projects for cold places. As I showed in my last post, two hats are already on their way to Nest Maine. Other possible beneficiaries of this one include areas in Pennsylvania, New York, and Vermont that were hit hard by floods last summer and fall, Lakota reservations, or any number of collection points in the northern U.S.

Stay tuned to see what happens!

wrong foot

So much for fresh starts. . .second post of the year, and I'm behind schedule already!

I am almost finished my main scarf for January's "assignment" -- but I have not yet managed to take a picture that shows that the thing is a glorious, rich purple. My camera and my phone prefer to tell you it's bright blue. One more try, tomorrow if it doesn't rain. And I almost finished my Special Olympics scarf, but I have a sad suspicion that I have had a willfully ignored case of crochet beginneritis, in which one end of the scarf fails to achieve right angles. I was close to finishing by the Pennsylvania deadline of February 1, but Pennsylvania met the quota before that. There may still be time to rip and redo for Louisiana's deadline; we shall see. No pictures of that right now either. . .


I did, however, finish these two hats for Nest Maine:

 

and this sweater and a pair of mittens for Afghans for Afghans:

All of the yarn was in my stash, so I am happy.