Holiday Knits

The Chevalier mittens knit up quite quickly - I really should knit more with bulky yarn. The cuff is some Silk Mountain I recieved in a Secret Pal exchange a few years ago, and the body of the mitten is some Lamb's Pride Bulky that I picked up on clearance at some Toronto yarn shop (possibly the predecessor to the ill-fated In The Loop; I've forgotten what the original shop was named) The cuff is reverse stockinette; I actually like the way it looks when the cuff is folded up. I've got about half a skein of the Lamb's Pride left, as well as 1.5 skeins of the Silk Mountain (FYI - the yardage estimates for the book Knitting New Mittens and Gloves are VERY GENEROUS!!!). I was planning on knitting up a matching hat with the leftovers today (my last full day off before I head back to work tomorrow evening), but when the Gambler and I braved the "cold" (-15 and they call a cold weather alert in Toronto; I talk to my Mom in Winnipeg and she tells me how it was very cold for a few days, but now it's not too bad, because the temperature has gone up to -15) to go see a movie a few days ago, he bemoaned the fact that he doesn't have a scarf that he can wrap around his neck 3 times. This is the first 2 feet of what is going to end up being about 8 feet of 1x1 rib. It's being knit out of some Mille Colori. Because it's 55 stitches across, the striping isn't as well defined as when I knit a narrower scarf using the same yarn. With the length of these colour repeats, it's probably preferable to be 41 or less stitches across to avoid colour changes within a stripe. And I am proud to say that both of these projects are from stash yarns - one of my goals for next year is to actually get around to knitting up some of those skeins that are stowed in various nooks and crannies around the house.

Lovely weather we're having...

The Gambler and I arrived in the Dominican Republic yesterday, ahead of the storm that is screwing up other people's travel plans. Nothing like watching scenes of snow filled streets while you are putting on sunscreen. In addition to a stack of books, I did bring some knitting with me - it is a secret project which conveniently uses a yarn suitable for warm weather. I ended up needing a last minute gift for someone, so last week I quickly knit up a cowl out of some Noro Kochoran that was sitting in my stash: It's called the Wave Cowl, and because of the short rows, it works nicely with long colour repeats. I have another skein of some Noro yarn (silver thaw?) sitting in the stash; when I get back I might knit another one of these cowls for myself. Somewhat uncharacteristically, I will have several days off after I return from holiday; I hope to at least start the second sleeve on my Poppy sweater, as well as knit up a pair of Chevalier (from the book Knitting New Mittens and Gloves)out of some Lamb's Pride Bulky that I have. Speaking of that book, the Hand Hoodies that I knit last year have worked like a charm: My fingers are sheltered from the wind unlike with regular fingerless gloves. I highly recommend them. Just in case you miss your flight to the Caribbean...

We'll have a Green Christmas...

The Gambler and I decided to deal with holiday stress by taking evasive action this year; on December 19 we leave for the Dominican Republic for a week. This gives us an excuse to not bother with putting up the Christmas tree this year (I don't remember what last year's excuse was...) So instead I knit a Christmas tree out of some Manos: With cat for scale: Decorated with vintage buttons (I inherited The Gambler's Nana's button collection): The pattern is available at Kniterary, my LYS away from home. Next year I might just knit 2 of these out of some bulky yarn and make festive touques for myself and The Gambler.