Geetha? Githa? Gytha.

Lovely lovely Gytha, even if I don't know how to pronounce it, such a beautiful sweater.



After the winter issue of the Twist Collective came out I was in love with this sweater. A little bit of colourwork, which I love. A little bit of stripes, which I love. A hood, which I love. So, when putting together a Xmas list for my husband I added a link for the pattern and a link to Green Mountain Spinnery with the colours and amounts I needed specified. We certainly don't need him guessing about that! Of all the knitterly goodness I had on my list, this was what he chose to buy for me (yay!), mostly because he really liked it too.



The colours of the Mountain Mohair are absolutely gorgeous and I kept opening the box and petting the yarn until I had (mostly hehehe) finished my Central Park Hoodie. But once I started, it was really hard to put it down, well until I was about halfway through the blue stockinette portion, but that's normal right? The yarn was a pleasure to knit, not at all splitty and very little VM. And the colours. Did I mention the colours?





The sweater is knit in the round from the bottom up, starting with the colourwork stripes, so fun. The body is split at the armholes and the right front, left front, and back are worked separately. The sleeves had an interesting construction in that they start at their full diameter then around the elbow you work in 1x1 rib for a couple of inches before resuming the stockinette and then shape the shoulder. The sleeves fit nicely into the armholes on the body too, which always makes the seaming a little bit easier.





I love this sweater. It fits well, it looks good, and it's only a little bit scratchy. It's really warm too so I haven't had much opportunity to wear it, but I'm not going to wish for fall just yet!




Gytha, by Jennifer Appleby
Twist Collective, Winter 2008
Green Mountain Spinnery, Mountain Mohair in Glacier Lake, Pistachio, Rhubarb, and Concord Grape

Like Potato Chips

The Noro Striped Scarf. Once I started I couldn't stop. Of course, then it took me weeks to photograph and talk about it, but here it is.



So so fun. I used 2 balls of Silk Garden in #252, and two of #245. It's thick and long and warm and cozy.



I slipped the first and last stitches (purlwise) on the second row of each stripe. I'm not sure if I would do it that way again. Not because I don't like the way it looks, it's a very nice edge. But because I found it a little awkward. I think I would just slip the first stitch of each row instead.



I have already purchased enough Silk Garden in two other colours to make another, since while I like this one a lot, I'm not sure if it's for me or someone else. Someone shorter, someone who possibly likes it more than I do.





And here's a little teaser for something else I finished.

A cozy sweater

I don't really have too much to say about my new Central Park Hoodie. Except, that it's exactly what I wanted it to be. A nice cozy house sweater that I'm not too worried about because it wasn't crazy expensive to make. The seaming didn't even bother me too much, maybe because it's been awhile since I've had to seam up a sweater. The thing that did bug me, was buttons. Nothing was right. Even the ones that are on there right now, not right, but they'll do. I do love how the cable show up with the Cascade 220.



I started this sweater as a break from the endless garter stitch madness of the baby blanket and it provided just the right distraction. I actually finished this sweater almost 2 months ago, but the button search was making me nuts, and then I got tired of waiting for sun AND someone around to take my picture. So I took artificial light pictures myself and maybe one day I'll get someone to take my picture.



Central Park Hoodie by Heather Lodinsky
Cascade 220 Heathers, 6.5 hanks colour #2441
Size 40
5.0mm Addi Turbos



Great sweater, love the long arms.

Round 2

The first of the RSC 2009 kits has been completed. I can't even tell you how much I love the colour. My Blue Heaven. As I was knitting, I was thinking "Oooo, I think this colour is my favourite" then it would change and "Oh, maybe this one", then "No, I think it's this one". Turquoise, cobalt, teal, all of them so so pretty. The pattern is Queen of Beads, by Sivia Harding



I had some minor challenges starting these socks. You see, they begin with stringing approximately 140 beads onto the yarn. I read that dental floss threaders were the way to go, but couldn't find any. But I had a dentist appointment 2 weeks after the package arrived and asked the hygenist for some. But then of course, I had to explain why I needed them. Needless to say, she was amused. So I attempted to string the beads with the threader on the end of the yarn. No go, the beads wouldn't fit over the doubled up bit of yarn at the end and I kept breaking the end of the eye of the threader. Then, I tied a length of dental floss to the end of the yarn and put that through the eye of the threader. Better, but still difficult to get the bead from the floss to the yarn. Then I tried a length of sewing thread instead of dental floss. Bingo! There was the occasional bead that would not go on, but I'd just put that one aside and use another. I had the beads strung in no time after that.



The knitting went quickly. It's a fun pattern that is really, really pretty. With or without beads. I put beads only on the leg, but I should have done the first repeat of the instep as well, to line up with the heel flap beads. Oh well, no one will really know, will they? And I did the extra repeat in the leg, can't have a short sock!



I finished these socks a couple of weeks ago, I'm very behind in my blogging, there are a couple of other things to show you too. My next RSC kit arrived today, it too is awesome. Very girly which isn't so much me, but I love it. I've worn my Queen of Beads once, so far, and the fit is great. I lengthened the heel flap a little from what I have been doing because my socks are feeling tight around the instep and some of the are harder to get on, this worked.

Fabulous sock, pretty pretty colour. On to the next finished project!

Thanks Mr. F

Well, my small boy is getting yet ANOTHER new teacher, his 4th in two years of school and his third one this year. Not ideal for the kindergartener.

Last year, the teacher he had all year was replaced by the one that was on maternity leave, with 5 weeks left in the year. Because she was pregnant again. She was back in his class in the fall and left in November to have her baby. That's when Mr. F came to teach. Now, in March he has found a full-time permanent position at another school teaching grade 3, so the kids are getting yet another teacher. I can't be mad at Mr. F though, he is doing the right thing, it just sucks for the kids. He has done great things in that classroom, and the kids love him. J is pretty bummed, but Mr. F also happens to be J's best friends Dad.

If Mr.F had stayed until June, he would have received some hand-knit socks, but since I only had a couple weeks notice of his departure, he got a hat instead. I decided on the Turn-a-square hat by Jared Flood. So off I went to The Needle Emporium for some Cascade and some Silk Garden.





I started knitting and had a really hard time putting it down, so I didn't. It was knitting up really quickly and I was loving the striping of the Noro. My first Noro. Not my last Silk Garden for sure (seeing as I already have some ready for a Noro Striped Scarf).





I'm really happy with this hat, I hope he likes it. He didn't open his gifts at school and now it's March Break. Hopefully his lovely wife (who is one of my friends) will let me know.



I'm still working on Gytha. I'm still in love with Gytha. I should finish the second sleeve today and then it's time for the hood and then it's done. It's awesome. I'm in a quandry about what will be next. I'm going to make Jer a seamless hybrid, so I should measure and swatch and do the math for that.

CPH should be blogged soon. I might have found some buttons. Maybe.

Ratty slippers

My ratty old slippers needed replacing. The big boy outgrew his slippers and now the small boy is wearing them. So that meant I needed to make some more slippers.

I pulled out the bin of leftover Patons Classic Merino (known around here as slipper yarn) and had the boy pick out what colours he wanted. He picked out a varigated blue/brown that was used in his fathers slippers and the navy I used at Christmas for his cousins. I knew there would be enough of the varigated, but there was no chance there would be enough of the solid navy. Fortunately, with the double sole construction of the beloved felted clog you can pretty much use whatever colours you want on the inner sole without affecting the final look of the slippers. So, for the first one, I used one strand of varigated and one of the solid for the inner sole, 2 varigated for the body of the slipper and 2 solid for the cuff and the outer sole. Hrmmm. Not much of the navy left. So, the second slipper got a strand of the varigated and a strand of a different blue (more denim in colour) for the inner sole, 2 varigated for the body of the slipper and 2 solid for the cuff. Hrmmm. I don't think there is enough to do the outer sole. So, I do the first three rows of the outer sole with 2 strands of the denim, and the next 3 rows with 2 strands of the navy, and attach with the navy. No way no how would there have been enough to do the whole thing, I barely had enough this way. So, did you follow all that? They turned out great, and aside from a bunch of questions about why there is a patch of lighter blue on the bottom of one slipper, he's pretty happy and all three of my monkeys are now happily 'skating' around the house in there felted slippers.





Mine. I bought some slipper wool for new slippers awhile ago, when it was on sale at Michaels. I guess at the time I was planning on a green sole/cuff and purple body, but when it was actually time to knit them...not so much. So I switched it, knowing full well that one ball of Classic Wool is not enough for soles and cuffs. So back into the bin I went and found the leftovers from Jen's slippers (the night we felted them, that's the night she became a knitter, even though she didn't actually knit yet). And I used that for the second strand for the inner soles. Every thing went very smoothly. Until. Until the last row of the outer sole of the second slipper. Ran out of purple. Crap. So now my slippers don't match. They have a little line of a varigated (although with coordinating colours) where the second sole is joined to the slipper. I'm over it. I'm just happy to not be leaving little bits of my slippers all over the house as they disintegrate into nothingness.





So there you go. More than you ever wanted to know about my felted clog journey.

I'm STILL looking for buttons for my CPH. I'm completely in love with Gytha.



I'm also in love with the January RSC colourway, My Blue Heaven. I may need more.

Turning 40

No, not me. Although it's now changed from "in a few years" to "in a couple of years". My SIL, my husbands brother's wife, she of the felted clog shredding feet, turned 40 a few weeks ago. I had decided a long time ago that for the occasion, I wanted to knit her a really nice scarf. A perfect red scarf. So the hunt for the perfect red in the perfect fibre was on, at the Kitchener-Waterloo Knitters Fair I found my yarn. At the Spun Fibre Arts booth there was the perfect red laceweight, baby alpaca from Diamond Yarns. My Mom and SIL both agreed it was just the right red for Joanne, so I bought it.



I knew that I was either going to knit Anne Hanson's Fiddlehead scarf or her Alhambra, both scarves from her Little Nothings collection that she adds to at an unbelievable rate. I decided on Fiddlehead and thought that I could knit it up pretty quickly. I was mostly right. I started knitting with the suggested 3.25mm needles and after 2 repeats decided that I didn't like the look of the fabric (too loosey-goosey) so I ripped it out and started again on 3.00mm, much better.



The pattern called for 39 repeats of the 8 (if my recall is correct) row pattern. So when I was approaching that milestone after a very respectable amount of time I was very excited. I laid it out on the floor and pinned it out. It was short. Very short. Dissappointingly short. I guess the smaller needles and what I can only believe is a finer laceweight than Anne used was making me have to knit more. A lot more. I had a very decent size ball of my yarn left, so I though, I'll just knit until it's done. Well, as fun as this was to knit. That may have killed me.



The pattern was easy, memorizable and very pretty. But, after about 50 repeats the scarf was starting to look like it would be long enough and I was starting to feel like I was done knitting fiddleheads. I pinned it out again and decided that 60 repeats would do just fine. Even though I had more yarn left than I wanted.



I love this scarf. It's light and airy and the stitch pattern is just perfect. It's a good thing it's red (not my colour) or I would be tempted to keep it for myself.



I've been writing this post for about 2 weeks now, my browser kept freezing up after a couple of sentences and I was getting really frustrated. But finally, it's done. In the mean time I have also finished my CPH and two more pairs of felted clogs. So hopefully I will get another post out in a few days. And, I have started Gytha. I'm in love.

So there you have it.

Fiddlehead scarf by Anne Hanson
Diamond Luxury yarns Baby alpaca laceweight
Knitpicks 3.0mm circular needle
Pattern calls for 39 repeats, I did 60.

Holidazed

Is it wrong that in my head, the name of this pattern is sung like the Madonna song (yes, I'm THAT old)?

Anyhow, the pattern is Holidazed by the lovely Anne Hanson of Knitspot and was the final pattern of the 2008 Rockin' Sock Club. Yay me, I did them all! Well, the last one was completed in 2009, but it was started in '08 and finished before the first kit of '09 arrived so I pass.

The yarn was mediumweight (I'm becoming a convert, they're so warm!) in the colour, Muddy Autumn Rainbow.


Something about the dying technique used for this one makes each hank a little bit different. Interesting.



I really enjoyed the colours of this one. So pretty and not too bright, and it didn't stripe either!



The socks should have taken a lot less time to knit, why can't I just stick to one project until it's done? The pattern was quick and easy and it was mediumweight, so less stitches. When I did pick them up, I got a lot done in a short amount of time.



It's a pretty diagonal rib, I didn't really memorize the pattern, I could do each row after looking at the chart to see where to start. Had I paid a bit more attention, I'm sure I could have figured it out and not had to use the chart anymore.



I love the look of gussets, if you haven't been able to tell by the pictures I always take. I just really like the way the two sets of stiches come together. A little pattern note here though, after turning the heel and beginning knitting the top of the foot again, start the chart on stich 5. Or, alternately, knit the heel flap on the second half of the stitches. This was not mentioned in the pattern.



I knit the medium on 2.25mm and did the leg to the recommended length, which turned out to be 3 repeats plus 8 rows. I did have a disappointingly large ball of yarn left when I finished and probably could have done another full repeat, if not 2 on each leg. Next time, right?

What else I'm working on: The CPH is getting closer, all the individual pieces are knit and blocked and I'm working on the hood. I'm also doing a Fiddlehead scarf, also by Anne Hanson, for my SIL's 40th birthday, which is today. Fortunately (for them anyway!) they are in Turks and Caicos at the momment. I'm hoping to have it done by Wednesday so I can get it in the mail by the end of the week. It's all about the scarf right now.

Have a good week!

What

The last of the '08 finished knits

I was hoping that there would be more, but the Christmas knitting that I normally wouldn't do (it's that selfish knitter in me) put a kink in the works.

First, the Christmas knitting. My SIL, she of the pointy heels that loves the felted clogs and is on her third pair in a year, asked if I would make some for her two boys, 8 and (almost) 7. She traced their feet for me and said the big one wants red/blue and the smaller one wants orange/blue. Done.

I found a good red/navy combo Patons Classic Wool, my felted clog staple, but couldn't find an orange I liked. So I waited until I could take a trip to The Needle Emporium to look at the Cascade 220. In the mean time, the Nephew clogs, red version, came to be.



I found an appropriate orange in the Cascade, but for some reason failed to buy a contrasting blue, so I went BACK to Michaels and bought a blue Classic Wool all while crossing my fingers that they would felt properly together.



I once again failed to take a picture of the felted result before wrapping them up for the boys (with something fun too, don't worry), so, use your imagination. So yes, as someone has now called me in my Ravelry notebook, I am the queen of the felted clog. And, I need to make more. Mine have a hole in the bottom, and my big boy would like some. Sigh.

Now, on to the pretty. As I have said before, my (other, knitting) SIL and I were knitting Moderne Baby Blankets for her (and Jer's) cousins twin boys that were due in January. Wellllll, they arrived early, in November so we had to crank it up so they could be done in time for the new Grandparents to take them out west when they went on January 1st. We did it!



Jen's has the blue and mine is the brown. We used Knit Picks Swish DK, two colours the same, two colours different. Fraternal blankets for fraternal boys, similar, but different.



I'm happy with the result, even if my colour choice was questioned at first, the red looked much more orange on my monitor when I picked the colours. But I think the blanket looks great and I hope that either Dylan or Aiden is kept nice and cozy in it. Hopefully they will be home from the hospital very very soon!



So that was it. I was hoping to have my CPH done, but that didn't happen, oh well. I have big incentive to finish it as my lovely husband bought me the pattern and Mountain Mohair to make Gytha from the Winter Twist Collective and I can hardly wait!

Bad knitter, no cookie.

Please, no more cookies. I can't stop eating cookies.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday, we sure did.

I've had so much to say for so long, that I no longer know what to say. So, I'll start with a picture of my pretty new mittens.



I'm completely smitten, not enough to give up on my Anemoi, but I'm trying to give them equal time. I've wanted to knit these mitts since I first saw them on Jared's blog. I bought my first Vogue Knitting magazine, and found the right yarn in the right colour at the Knitter's Fair in September. It was the yarn called for in the pattern actually. It was so thin, so fine, I was having doubts that these mittens would be warm. But they are, they have been freezing cold hockey arena tested and I had warm hands.

The charts looked intimidating at first glance but it really wasn't all that bad. Not to say that I didn't have to concentrate on them, because I did. But the cables are just so pretty and I love the little one on the thumbs (even if I did mess one of them up at the start).



I had to start and restart a few times to get the correct tension and ended up with needles much smaller than recommended. All in all, I give the Green (Brown) Autumn Mittens/Druid Mittens two thumbs up!

The cuffs are pretty cool too!