And sometimes, I sew . . .

For some reason the idea of heading off to see the world sort of put a fire under my rear and led to me tackling a few projects I've been putting off. Knowing that I would be spending a lot of time on a coach watching the world go by I figured I was going to bring some knitting. (also that if I went two weeks without knitting I might lose my mind) But all my project bags were store bought and too big or too small. So I got out the fabric stash (which is not super impressive - I have to buy fabric if I want to make anything that requires more than half a yard) and took two fabrics I liked. I sewed them together inside out on three sides, turned them right side out, hemmed the one end, folded up what I had- leaving a flap, sewed the sides together, added some snaps, and sewed buttons over the snaps. And that was how my perfect size project bag came to be. Poking out in the open picture are the socks I made while in the coach. I just finished them as we approached Paris - which was the last stop so- perfect timing.

I only blog in the second half of the year

So I was looking at my knitting bag post from, you know, six months ago, and since then I've made lots of progress on nearly everything shown. In fact I've even made one sweater and am working on a second from the pile o swatches. These here are what became of the hanks of yarn that were in the post. As far as I know they are holding up fine. Though likely not getting much wear in the 100+ weather that southern NM always has this time of year.

Yes my brother is doing double "Live long and prosper"

More Tree Decorations

Every year I bake cookies and give them to friends in tins. Most years I get crafty and make ornaments to go with the cookies. This year I thought I was going to skip it but at the end of the last day of work until next year all I really wanted to do was curl up with some small instant gratification knitting. And so I made an ornament. Then another. Thus- ornaments! The yarn is all leftovers from various projects. I didn't use any patterns, just made it up as I went. My favorite is the purple mitten - I love the shape of the hand and the pointy thumb and hand. I want to knit myself some mittens like that.

Keeping Warm

This is my newest knit hat modeled by my new head, Edith. (Yes, I know it's a terrible pun.) It's Madeline Tosh sock yarn in what I think was hydrangea colorway. I made socks but they pooled in the ugliest way and met an awful fate with the dryer (perhaps intentional on my part). Luckily there was still enough of this pretty yarn for this hat. It's just stockinette in the round. I made it long enough it fits over an updo and still covers the ears.
It's been colder than usual round these parts and I've had an opportunity to really use a whole lot of my handknit goodies. Both sets of handwarmers, my mittens, two knitted berets, this hat, the recycled sari silk scarf, my clapotis, legwarmers, and plenty of knitted socks have seen action lately. Sadly I only have one handknit wool sweater that fits so I haven't gotten to show off my skills there. On the plus I managed to do some savy shopping for myself and pick up three cashmere cardigans for a little less than the price of one. Everyday I wear one and I will keep this up for as long as the cold lasts (or until I knit a new sweater.) It's sort of like a game. A game I always win.

Ornaments

I love knitting ornaments. They take up little time and yarn. You don't need to worry about allergies or wash ability as it won't be worn or washed. You really don't need a pattern as knitting is pretty intuitive-if you can knit a sock or a hat for a human you can easily knit one in miniature. Plus they are an opportunity to experiment with techniques or try out something different since the little time investment means ripping out a failure isn't heart breaking at all.

Nothing new or exciting here. Just socks attached with i-cord. They are meant to represent the socks of the wicked witch of the East as the recipient likes the Wizard of Oz.

Why do you wear those socks on your hands?*

These were finished a couple days ago and took about that long dry after I washed 'em. Even with not rushing it only took three days total to do the second warmer. Again, my own pattern and mystery lambswool/alpaca blend. I love these. I got exactly what I set out to make. How nice when that happens.

*Number one question I get from the middle schoolers when I bust out the hand warmers. Number two is "Will you knit me some?" and occasionally "what's the point if they don't cover your fingers?"

Ladies and snotty nosed women should always carry . . .

I think I came to the whole hanky world quite firmly one day when I was standing in a store with snot globbering down my face, not a tissue in sight, and a $5 t-shirt seeming a tempting option. (I would have bought it after I blew my nose, kay?) After that I bought half a dozen pack and of course used it as an excuse to embroider. All the pretty designs are from various Sublime Stitching kits and while I love to embroider I feel it should be used sparingly in one's wardrobe. One's hankys on the other hand . . . I have a pack of ten that I'm at work on now but it may be a bit. I'm even thinking of doing my own designs for some of them.

The hankys look so nice because I ironed them, which I do not normally do and am not converted into doing -it was all for the photo shoot. I ironed them while watching an episode of Mad Men. It was nice to think that due to a few massive shifts in society I rarely touch an iron except when sewing or ironing patterns on.

Knitting content should come once I can figure out how to get decent pics. I think I need a new camera but that will have to wait for now.

Notice the Clove gum. It's in stores right now. I bought like twenty packs. I love Clove gum.

Sari Scarf

So I've been taking lots of pictures of projects but they aren't coming out very well. This semi - decent photo is of an older FO - a couple months maybe. I got the recycled sari silk yarn about four years ago from my LYS with a gift certificate. I spent a good twenty minutes picking the skein with the color combo I liked best. Then the yarn sat in the stash waiting for just the right moment. The scarf is just garter stitch and knit on the bias. It didn't take long at all to knit and it was a joy to knit too. I would have thought the fuzziness would make it a pain but I was honestly sad when I was done. I ran into a snafu very near the end where suddenly the yarn was about half the thickness it had been before - so I doubled the yarn and it worked very well. Originally I was going to do a plain garter stitch but then hit upon the idea of the bias. I owe some credit to two patterns on knitty - one of a bag knit in recycled sari silk where it was knit on the bias and the famous clapotis for teaching me how to knit something on the bias. When it finally gets cold enough to wear a scarf again I hope to get lots of wear out of this.