Progress

Remember these fingerless mitts from the previous post? Well after doing some rip, rip, ripping they are now the ones below. I had cast on 36 sts on the first pair and when I got about three inches into the mitt I tried them on and felt they would be too big, even for "man" size. I ripped them out and redid them with a 30 st cast on. They fit snugger and much better now, even for a "man" size.

The mitts that were missing the thumbs, in the last post, now have thumbs. I still need to weave in the ends though. They feel really good when I put them on and I wouldn't be opposed to keeping them, if it wasn't Christmas knitting.

I did some dying the past week. I am excited to show you the results, but it will have to wait for a week or so.

Happy knitting and spinning!

Art

As promised, here are the pictures of some of the prints ES and I purchased last weekend at the art show. These prints are all done by my friend Linda Wolfe.


I am always drawn to her prints and have a number of them throughout my house. I bought more this year than I usually do, because it was the last show I will be able to attend before our family makes the "big move".


This print of the "Tree of Life" is one of Linda's new ones. I am always impressed by the ideas she has and what she is able to put into pictures. She is a very talented lady! Thanks Linda for the enjoyment you have brought into my life.





On the knitting front, I am still working on all the fingerless mitts. The multi-colored pair is just missing the thumbs and weaving in the ends. That shouldn't take too long. It's just a matter of doing it!




This brown pair is the pair that I am working on in the car. Waiting for kids or during lunch hours. Hopefully, I will be done with these by Friday. There are still quite a few to get done, but I am cruising right along. I am using up a lot of stash fiber which is really good. It has been fun to go through the bins and see what I have that will work for the mitts. I am finding all kinds of samples and left overs which are working great.

Happy knitting and spinning!

Saturday's Sock Class

Saturday's sock class was the knitting of a Christmas stocking. The amount that is shown knitted here is from the class. It is a fairly fast knit and was really easy. I used the needle size recommended and ended up n-o-t getting gauge. What else is new? I should have gone down about two needle sizes, but thought I would try it anyway and see what I ended up with. It is about 10 inches across right now. The example is 8 inches across. I think I may stick it in the washing machine just to "full" it a little bit.

It was really quite hard to knit with the size 13 needles. My hands don't like to hold onto that big of a needle for very long. The two hours of the class was about all my hands could do for yesterday. I am more comfortable with a size 8 or smaller.

These are the fingerless mitts from the Galway. I did get two pairs out of 210 yards. The tails that are on the mitts, before weaving in the ends, is all of the yarn that is left from the skein. All together there is probably 18 inches left. The pair on the bottom is about an inch shorter than the one on the top and the thumb is about three rows shorter. I think they will still accomplish the intended purpose though.

Yesterday ES and I attended an art show of one of our friends. I will get pictures taken today or tomorrow and show you what we purchased. After the art show, we went to dinner at the Red Lobster in Pocatello. It is the first time we have been there in about a year and a half. It was fun to spend some time with ES, before he leaves for his new job in a month, that was not all about the move or getting ready for the move.

Sock class Saturday

I forgot to mention yesterday, this weekend is my monthly sock knitting class. This month we are working on a Christmas stocking. It is knit with a really bulky yarn or two Lamb's Pride bulky held together. They are also knit on size 13 or 15 needles. Because my hands tend to "hurt" faster when working with that size needle, I don't knit with it very often. We'll see how long it takes me to get this stocking done.

I haven't finished last month's socks yet. I put them down to work on some Christmas knitting. I imagine when I am done with obligated knitting, I will have them done fairly quickly.

Speaking of Christmas knitting, the second fingerless mitt from yesterdays post is past the thumb and heading rapidly towards the knuckles. Almost done! Just have to do the thumbs now.

Next Projects

Now that the hats are completed, I have moved on to knitting fingerless mitts. The kids don't like mittens, but I think they will like these. They work really well for driving and all but the two youngest are drivers. I made a pair last year and I really like them. This pair is out of Galway in black. The black is a little hard to work with in a dark room, but is coming along quickly. I have one mitt part done, just have to knit the thumb. I think I will knit the second mitt before doing either thumb. I would like to get two pair out of the one skein. The Galway has 210 yds in it so I will have to see.

I am going to use some of my handspun for the next few pairs. This means I will have to do some washing and winding. Some of the handspun has been sitting in bins for quite awhile. But I think this will be a good way to use some of those skeins that there isn't enough to do any one large project or even enough for accents in a larger project.

Happy knitting & spinning.

Completed Hats

I thought I only had twelve hats to finish. This was when I thought I was done. Two weeks ago we got three new kids in Nursery. That made my total 15. Yesterday I recounted and recounted. I needed 16 hats for Christmas.





Well, they are mostly done. I give you eight girl hats.








And eight boy hats. The blue one in the lower right is at the point where the decreases are halfway done. ES says he could tell I was getting tired of doing them, because I had gone to solid color hats, no stripes or designs.

I have also been doing some spinning. I am now plying the white I spun. I have three and a half bobbins of it. I have also been washing a batch or two of raw fleeces every other day or so. I am working on a brown fleece which I hope turns out pretty good.

Happy knitting & spinning.

Spinning Accomplished

Remember the twelve hats I have been making for my Nursery kids? Well, we had three new kids last week so my total is now 15 hats. I am about three inches into #14. I should be done with all of them by the end of this weekend and then I can move onto Christmas knitting. I thought I had a picture of the completed hats on my camera, but I cannot find it so you will get pictures next time.

I have also been busy spinning. This past week I have spun five and a half bobbins of this champagne color, I have plied all the bobbins, and have spun two and a half bobbins of white. I don't have very much of the white left to spin and then it will be onto the dark brown. I have started looking for a pattern to use, haven't found one yet. I know about what I want and maybe I will have to improvise. To spin while on the computer has been very advantageous to me in the amount I have increased my spinning. Thankfully, the Hitchiker makes it all possible, because of it's ability to fit under the computer desk.

Today I have to work so will not get much done until tonight. Happy knitting & spinning.