FO: Chrysanthemums

Does the word "Chrysanthemum" make anyone else immediately think of Anne Shirley and the spelling bee? Man, I love that Anne-girl.

I think I've been struck by the autumnal version of a spring cleaning urge. It helps that I needed to clear out my bathroom and kitchen to make space for the plumbing project; I'm trying to look at all of this as an opportunity to redecorate and get organized. Obviously part of organizing is finishing up old knitting projects.  First the socks, now mittens.

Check out the Chrysanthemums:

(Not yet blocked, but still looking awesome!)

Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll Tonal in Canopy (CC) and Kindling (MC)
Pattern: Heather Desserud's Chrysanthemums

Mods: None. One of my favorite features in this pattern is the picot edge. The cuff is probably always going to be tucked inside the sleeve of a coat, but it's still a lovely touch that makes the mittens feel a little more fancy.
Verdict: I am excited to put these in the winter lineup!
This was the project in which I actually figured out how to make the CC yarn "pop" out from the background by making its floats go underneath the floats of the MC yarn.

I mean, I think I've fumbled my way through other colorwork projects without completely understanding what I was doing by carrying one strand above the other, and I've ended up with decent results, but this time it all started to make sense.  When it's underneath, so to speak, the CC strand gets pulled a bit less tightly toward the back of the work, so those stitches stay slightly more puffy and stand out.  Now that I know, I think I can make my stranded colorwork look much better. Thanks, Chrysanthemums!

My Rav project page is here.

FO: February blues

Another handspun project! I've been pretty uninspired about knitting lately, but using handspun has helped me get back on track. It's really just the best kind of yarn to work with, I think.

Yarn: My own handspun from some batts I got in a Ravelry destashing sale, wool with sparkles.

Needles: US 7 dpns, set of 5

Pattern: Improvised mitt with a 1x1 twisted rib cuff, stockinette body, and thumb gusset made with fancy yarn-overs. The palm bind-off is also 1x1 twisted rib.

Verdict: Yes! They are lovely and soft and they have sparkles in them, so what more could you ask for, really?

You may also note that the color of the floor changes in a few of these pictures. Sadly, I do not live in a magical house where the floor is chameleon-like; I just adjusted the photos in an editor to keep the yarn color accurate because it's so pretty!
Also, bread of the week, destined for grilled cheese sandwiches:

Today I'm off for a yarn crawl around Chicago with my local knitting ladies. I cannot wait to show you the haul (I have big plans, including sweater-knitting plans). What's going on with your Sunday?

A flurry of FOs, #2 & #3

Mittens! Good for winter thrills and chills.

Yarn: Trekking XXL
Needles: US 2 dpns, set of 5

Pattern: This one I made up for myself.  Basically I started with a ribbed cuff, knit up in stockinette to make a nice long cuff that could be tucked inside a coat, and made a thumb gusset. I left the live thumb stitches on waste yarn while I knit up for palm and fingers, then did what's pretty much a sock toe, decreasing to a very small number of stitches before kitchenering things together to create plenty of room for finger wiggling.  I did this for both mittens, then I packed them up very nicely in a plastic bag with the yarn and buried them in my stash for two years.

Yes, I am that weird/dumb/ridiculous.

This weekend I pulled them out, completed the thumbs, did some weaving in of ends, and added them to the winter accessories rotation. Woohoo! Near-instant project satisfaction!

Ch-ch-ch-changes

I'd like to start with an apology for the fact that I have not managed to catch the daytime light for ANY of these pictures you are about to see. Bear with me until after tomorrow, my last teaching day (YES!), and then we'll be in business again.

Okay, changes! Well, one change. A haircut:

My hair salon is about 1.5 blocks from a yarn store. More on that tomorrow...

In the meantime, what else have I been up to?

Making more mitten progress. I love this cuff!

Watching movies, including The Thin Red Line on Monday night and The Muppets on Tuesday night (yes, in fact, that does seem like a very strange lineup. Both evenings, however, were completely awesome).

Reading in the library and checking out many many books to keep in my locker. It's kind of fun to open that thing and see basically a whole shelf of books just about Philippians and Gregory of Nyssa, two of my favorite topics.

Enjoying awesome mail. These prints are part of my October giveaway prize from Leigh-Ann's blog, and they are from the lovely Ciera. I really like the pot of clover.

 This is from Knit Picks (in case you can't tell from the logo that is shouting at you over and over again). Scheduled sweater cast-on is Friday.

What have you been doing?

It's so funny to me that when I'm not actively working on a colorwork knitting project I can somehow convince myself that stranded knitting is difficult or time consuming, but then the instant I cast on for the Chrysanthemums I experienced a little surge of "hooray, colorwork!" type joy. I knit the picot cuff yesterday, and this morning I finally tucked into the 2-color part.

Here is my progress so far.

In other news, I had an epic adventure yesterday when picking up a Christmas tree. I went to two different lots in the hopes of finding a small (say 3 foot tall) tree, and instead I ended up carrying this monster of a pine 7 blocks in one hand. And yes, it is nearly as tall as I am.

This is proof that I am strong and ridiculous, no? I kept giggling the whole time I was walking home, because the phrase, "I LOVE CHRISTMAS" kept repeating over and over in my head in an extremely angry and determined voice. Too funny! 

While the tree now has lights, there is a decided shortage of Christmas tree ornaments and tree skirts in my house, because this is the first real tree I've ever purchased for myself.  As soon as that's remedied, I'll be sure to post some photos of the finished product all lit up and pretty.
Hope you're having an enjoyable weekend filled with crafting and adventures, too!

Big knitting plans

Hello, lovelies! Let me first say that yesterday was not my favorite day.  My ability to concentrate on reading at the library was pretty horrible, and I had a number of teaching commitments that I was just not excited about.  Everything went okay, I did get some important work done, and I got to read some very pleasant and complimentary student evaluations, so it wasn't a total bust, but I am hoping things get much better today and for the rest of this week...
One of the reasons life is looking up is that I have big knitting plans now that there are (almost!!!! so close!!!!) no more classes.

First, I just ordered 10 skeins of this yarn

Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in Fjord Heather

for this sweater:

Castle pullover by Cecily Glowik MacDonald

I have had this pattern for well over a year, but I haven't gotten around to actually making the sweater.  It seems like a good birthday sweater, right? I can both get the yarn and crank this thing out for my 12/15 birthday, I'm sure! Only half kidding.

I also have full skeins of green and brown tonals, left over from the six socks project, to make myself a pair of winter mittens.

Knit Picks Stroll Tonal Sock Yarn in Kindling

Knit Picks Stroll Tonal Sock Yarn in Canopy

Now I just have to choose a pattern, and there are a couple of great candidates hanging out in my Rav queue, such as

Squirrelly Swedish Mittens by Elli Stubenrach

or Chyrsanthemums by Heather Desserud

What's in your knitting line-up?

A pile of hats and other things

Last chance to enter the giveaway for a $25 gift certificate to the Perknitious shop! Comments close for the drawing at noon today...

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Mid-weekly update on works in progress or fresh off the needles:

Recently finished, a Pesco-vegetarian beanie in great purple wool-mohair from my fall swap partner, Lisa (hi, Lisa!)

A second acorn hat in Jared Flood's Shelter (color Button Jar)

Commissions in progress, to be added to the shop very shortly.

What's on your needles or in your craft basket?

FO: Robots!

Hello! Tonight I proudly present a pair of finished robot mittens for the BF:

Here are the backs - I think they're just lovely with the paired vertical and horizontal stripes. They were also consistently interesting to knit, because every row was just a bit different.

And the fronts in all of their robot glory! I just love these.

The pattern is by Spillyjane (see Ravelry link), and it's quite clear and fun to knit. I would definitely recommend it if you have a robot-loving friend or if you're a fan yourself!

Robots marching

There has been a tiny bit of knitting on the robot mittens, and I have a slightly more color-accurate photo, since we got a few moments of sun here. The contrast between the two colors doesn't stand out terribly well, but you get a better idea than the glowing green below!

Right now it's all German and Greek, all the time. Look for plain old photo posts coming up the next few days.

Button head

I got the lovely gift of a hand-picked button assortment for Christmas this year, so I am going to try to do a bit more embellishing on some of my hats and mittens. Here is the first attempt.

I used leftover yarn (you may recognize these colors - Wool of the Andes Camel Heather and Currant) in a combination that reminds me of some sort of super classy peanut butter and jelly sandwich... or maybe I am just hungry.

I also have a progress report on the robot mittens. I'm a bit further along than this, but you can see the little guys starting to line up on the back of the hand. I am loving these shades of green together, and I'll be sure to capture a more accurate, non-flash image when we get a bit more sun here in Chicago, or when I'm in sunny Florida this weekend! I'll be sure to share my mini vacation with you :)

For now, have a great Wednesday!

Knitterboi part I

Hello,

I'd like you to meet a new knitter.

Yes, this is his first project.

He learned knit, purl, garter, stockinette, and then said, "I would like to make mittens. Show me that dpn business."

On an expedition to the yarn store, he chose sub-worsted weight yarn in a medium-dark color, to be knitted on tiny needles (US3s for a first-timer).

It took a few months, but here is the finished product. A pair of nearly identical mittens, complete with thumb gussets, thumbs, paired decreases, and (non-plussed) kitty.

Congrats, Knitterboi (I know this name was a joke, but now you are stuck with it)!