Doomed

The second mitten was doomed from the start, apparently. After spending hours untangling the mess that Maddie made of my yarn, then balling it back up again (into two balls because somehow she broke it off somewhere in the middle - I'm blaming her, anyway), I set to work again on the mitten. I had to frog what was left of mitten #2 because I couldn't figure out where I had been in the pattern when all H-E-double hockeysticks broke loose. So I frogged the mitten and began again. I've finished the mitten and I won't even disturb you by posting pics of it - somehow it is considerably smaller than mitten #1. Hmmm....maybe it will block out. I worked on weaving the ends in, during a particularly harrowing evening of two little boys who didn't want to and wouldn't go to sleep (and instead spent two hours annoying the you-know-what out of each other and their mother!) I barely gave it a thought when I weaved the ends in at the top of the mitten until I finished and went to turn it right-side-out. WHAT!?!?!?! It was already right side out. Yes, I had woven and snipped and it looks downright ugly.

What to do?

I'm going to order another ball of yarn and try again.

In the meantime, I'm working on a sock, and some dishcloths, and making my own DPN's and I am going to start on John's London Beanie. The Purl Bee has a pattern for an adorable (and I do mean adorable) little girl's dress (and you're right - I have no little girls - but I know some!). The pattern is for crochet though, and I don't crochet. Yet.....

Anyone want a cat?

Just kidding - kind of. I love my cat. She's a part of the family. She also apparently loves Baby Alpaca yarn, so really, how can I not love her? (She never messed with my acrylic yarns this way.)

I was so excited to get up this morning and take pictures for you of the Women's Open Palm Mitten. (Yes, just one mitten - I know what you are thinking. Give me time. I'm a busy woman.) I worked the mitten in Knit Picks Andean Treasure, 100% Baby Alpaca, colorway Midnight. It is soft and blue and green and lovely and -- can you tell? -- I love it! Little did I know that Maddie would love it as well.

I'm sure I placed the whole caboodle snug inside it's ziploc resting place last night before bed. OK, so maybe I forgot to seal it. Really though, I would have thought that at Maddie's age (nine) she would know better. She's like a kid. And these kids, I tell you...

Where was I? Oh yes...instead of waking up and pulling out my prized mitten for pictures--Instead of that...I awoke to find this lovely scene. Grrrr! I then spent at least 30 minutes trying to un-knot the whole mess, while Maddie looked on (she can be so callous sometimes). See that smug look on her face. I realize now, after looking at the pictures, she does know better, she just simply does not care.

See if I knit anything for her.

PS - the fact that my pattern (see last pic) has a picture of a cat on it is not lost on me.

A Pair

Oh, what joy! Ok...so maybe a pair of hand-knit socks shouldn't inspire 'joy' in a person, exactly. (I mean...what does that say about me? We'll save that conversation for another day.) Last night I finished the second sock (forgot to mention the pattern is Yarn Harlot's Basic Sock Recipe found in her book Knitting Rules!). While the socks fit, they could stand to be a wee bit longer in the foot, and so while I'm at it, I would add a wee bit more to the leg as well, just for grins. I also would do more than two inches of ribbing at the top. The socks seem to slouch a little at the ankle, and I'm not sure what would help that, unless I was to decrease a little bit there. Honestly, a smarter person could probably do that. I'm not sure I could figure out where to decrease, and then how best to increase again before I got to the heel. I would have to play with it a little (or a lot) before I could get that right. I'm going to do another pair (just waiting on my Knit Picks order).

In the meantime, I have a scarf to finish (the Irish Hiking Scarf in Lion Brand Wool, color: Sage). This scarf was going gang-busters in the beginning, but then I stopped to work on the socks, and now I'm having trouble getting back into it. Originally, it was to be a going away gift, but since that person already 'went away', I'm now calling it a 'we miss you - Christmas gift'. Sounds like a plan, right?

First sock, first post

Finally!

When I first taught myself to knit, it was with the intention of learning how to knit socks. I'm pretty crazy about taking on more than I probably should, but I knew better than to try to start with socks. I started, like everyone else, with scarves. Then moved on to shawls. Next came hats. Eventually, I made a pair of mittens. Then three baby sweaters. Hmmm....what to knit next? I took a deep breath. "I think I might be ready to knit socks." I didn't think socks could be much more difficult than sweaters (correct thinking there! Those sweaters were tough!) A couple of weeks ago I ordered my first sock yarn (Knit Picks Essential 755 Superwash Wool, 25% Nylon in Tuscany Multi).

My first sock took me 6 days! 6 days?!? (Mind you, I have children, so my knitting time is oft interrupted!) Surely my next sock would go more quickly, right? 10 days later, I'm about 2/3 done with the second sock. It is a LOT easier this time, I just haven't had as much time. I go back to work on Friday. I'm setting a goal for myself. I will be wearing my new socks to work on Friday. (OK. I hope to be wearing my new socks.) Wish me luck...