I had decided after Christmas to do some fingerless mitts for Fred and some of his friends in China because of the heat issue (lack of it) but stopped working on them when he said no one would wear them. Well, he's on a 2-week vacation thru the south of China and a lot of 'no ones' are wearing them in the photos he's sent me! I started a pair for a Chinese teacher last night in Sensations Soles & More from JoAnn's and I really like they way they are growing! I have one mitt finished in Essential Tweeds from Knitpicks that'll be for Fred, and that just leaves a pair for a Filipino teacher but I need to get something girly for her. Oh, well, I can always break my New Year's resolution and go shopping for yarn!
I want to get these fingerless mitts done quickly so I can mail the package (it takes about 20 days to get there) and go back to knitting baby sweaters to build my stock for the late April reopening of the shop in Cooperstown. I've done 2 baby sets in Bernat Baby Jacquard, a self stripping, that works up very nice and quite quickly. (But, after working on Fred's XL vest, any thing smaller seems to work up quickly!) I can't remember the last time I had 2 sets in the finished bag this early in winter!
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Thursday, January 8, 2009
My First of 2009
I finished my first 2 projects of 2009 last night: 1st was Fred's vest. It made up very nicely, the cable around the neck and down the fronts make it just a little dressy. However, it did re-enforce a couple of pet peeves of mine: I do not like to k1p1 rib for long lengths, I do not like to pick up stitches for a band that must be ribbed, and I do not like to bind off in ribbing. I have to take and post a photo of it before I send it, and I'll ask for a photo of him in it, too!
My 2nd project was a baby hat that was on the back of Bernat Baby Jacquards label. I did it in the pink and yellow jacquard and really liked how it worked up. The yardage was very good and I went back to Walmart and got another skein so I can do a sweater to go with it. I like working on baby things because they knit up so fast! Especially after knitting a man's XL vest!
Friday, January 2, 2009
Christmas is over...at last!
I did not finish all my projects on time for Christmas. I knew that was going to happen so it didn't upset me too much. I took the 2nd mitt of the 3rd pair of fingerless mitts intended for gifting with me on the needles to Christmas dinner. My cousin's tweenie daughter loved hers and my cousin was trying them on and asking if she could borrow them. That sounded like a hint to me, so I whipped out the pair I had intended for her. Just had to work in a couple of ends, and viola, another pair was gifted. About then the indented recipient of the remaining unfinished mitts walked into the room and said "oh, what's that?" in a not very interested voice. Explanation did not change her attitude so pair #3 remained unfinished in my bag. (They went to my computer tech, saving me time and yarn, who immediately put them on and wore them the entire day at work raving about how much warmer her hands were. Now, that's gratitude!)
I finally finished the back of Fred's vest yesterday. I had to rip it out because the gauge was off. I changed needles and did a swatch that came out about 1/2 stitch big per inch. I thought that was close enough, but when I worked on 120 stitches the back was enormous! So I ended up doing it in size large but with x-l length. That worked! (When will I learn to take the time to make the swatch? I've often used Red Heart acrylic yarn for children's sweaters without a problem and didn't expect the gauge to be off. Oh, well.) The left front is about half finished. I went to JoAnn's yesterday for their New Year's Day sale and got buttons that match the burgandy yarn perfectly. And at half price! I also got several balls of Sensation sock yarn to make more mitts. I finished the 1st mitt of Fred's fingerless mitts in Blue Ox Tweed Essential, a superwash merino blend from Knitpicks. I want to do a pair for his friend, Joe, a Chinese elementary teacher and for Lily, a young teacher from the Phillipines that I email. I hope to have everything ready to mail by the middle of January. According to the USPS, the package should make it to LuZhou by Chinese New Year, Jan. 26th. I'm betting on Ground Hog's Day, Feb 2nd. Or for the first day of classes, Feb. 6th. We'll just have to wait and see.
I finally finished the back of Fred's vest yesterday. I had to rip it out because the gauge was off. I changed needles and did a swatch that came out about 1/2 stitch big per inch. I thought that was close enough, but when I worked on 120 stitches the back was enormous! So I ended up doing it in size large but with x-l length. That worked! (When will I learn to take the time to make the swatch? I've often used Red Heart acrylic yarn for children's sweaters without a problem and didn't expect the gauge to be off. Oh, well.) The left front is about half finished. I went to JoAnn's yesterday for their New Year's Day sale and got buttons that match the burgandy yarn perfectly. And at half price! I also got several balls of Sensation sock yarn to make more mitts. I finished the 1st mitt of Fred's fingerless mitts in Blue Ox Tweed Essential, a superwash merino blend from Knitpicks. I want to do a pair for his friend, Joe, a Chinese elementary teacher and for Lily, a young teacher from the Phillipines that I email. I hope to have everything ready to mail by the middle of January. According to the USPS, the package should make it to LuZhou by Chinese New Year, Jan. 26th. I'm betting on Ground Hog's Day, Feb 2nd. Or for the first day of classes, Feb. 6th. We'll just have to wait and see.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)