I think I have a new love!

Just to say that I think I will love knitting socks. It is so delicate. I love those little tiny metal needles. The pattern and the yarn are both fun!

Have a great Friday everyone and for those who are interested to make a little donation for Haiti to the Red Cross, here is the link: http://www.croixrouge.ca/article.asp?id=33901&tid=001.

Happy New Year 2010!

Happy New Year 2010 everyone! May this new year bring you love, health, happiness and of course, a lot of time for knitting!

There it is, my first FO for 2010! Like the pattern pointed out, these fingerless mittens come pretty close to instant gratification. They were knit in less than two weeks which is a great achievement in my case!

Pattern: Fetching by Cheryl Niamath (Knitty)
Yarn: Filtes King Extra, less than 2 skeins
Needles: US 8 / 5.0 mm
Color: Pink (2991)
Start to finish: December 2009 - January 2010
For: Me
Modifications: CO 40 sts instead of 45. Regular BO instead of picot. The two modifications were made in accordance to many comments I read from other knitters.

At first, I was not sure about the yarn because it gives an aspect quite different from the other Fetchings I had seen. The stitches stand out more than I had expected. I also found the yarn to be splitty when I casted on, but it was fine after that. In the end, I think my Fetchings are really pretty! This is a very warm pink. Final verdict: totally happy with them!

Now what is next? Socks! Today, I start training for the Ravelympics. I have some beautiful yarn that was given to me as a gift more than a year ago by Marie-Michèle at a knit night. It's so pretty! It is Lorna's Lace in a nice combination of pink, purple and blue. It will be used to knit one sock. I want to try knitting a whole sock before I knit a pair during the Ravelympics. I'm a little scared about the foot part. With 17 days to knit a first pair, there is no time for technical problems!

I have to go buy new sock yarn for this project. Probably next Friday. If you have suggestions for a yarn that is not too expensive (it will be my first pair of socks after all, you never know how they will turn out), feel free to make suggestions! I think I'd like a solid color but with darker/lighter shades in it... The pattern is Monkey and the motif is really beautiful in itself.

I also bought a copy of Vogue Knitting on my way back from work last night. What a great way to start the weekend!

A great weekend to you all!

Merry Christmas!

I would like to thank those of you who stopped by and commented on the thumb of my Handsome Mittens. Your opinion is much appreciated! However, I did need to try all options and it turns out that green is my favorite. What can I say? So, I have yet to knit it in green again!


In parallel, I'm continuing Thermal. I started the first sleeve recently! I still enjoy knitting it!

In a couple of days, I should receive my new kit of KnitPicks nickel DPNs to start training for the Ravelympics. We are the Montreal Area Team. I really look forward to start knitting my first socks. It will be just one sock. I have a beautiful skein of Lorna's Lace sock yarn that would not be enough for a pair of socks anyways. It will be perfect and mostly, lots of fun!

Are you participating to the Ravelympics? What will you be knitting?

Everyone have a wonderful Christmas weekend!

Question

The more I look at the pictures I took of the Handsome Mittens, the more I think that I should have knit either striped thumbs or black thumbs. I now find the green is too bright and catch the eye way to much.

If the mittens were for you to wear, which would you prefer:

1. Green thumbs
2. Black thumbs
3. Striped thumbs

Would striped thumbs be too much? Wouldn't black thumbs give them a more casual look?

I know this is going to drive me crazy all week ;-) Why didn't I think of it before?

Have a great week!

Two of a kind!

I finished my second Handsome Mitten today! It has been a tough one compared to the first mitten I knit last winter.

They are a little different too. I don't think it really shows unless you measure them, but I think my tension is not as tight now.



Pattern: Handsome Mittens by Cheryl Niamath, IK, Winter 2008
Yarn: Cascade Pastaza
Needles: US 8 / 5.0 mm
Color: Green (069) and Black (008)
Start to finish: February 2009 - December 2009
For: Me
Modifications: The only modification I made is knitting the two thumbs with the same color. In the pattern, there is a thumb in each color.
Notes to myself: When knitting a pair of mittens, gloves or socks, knit the two at the same time. Or take notes. Otherwise, they may look slightly different and you may have a hard time remembering any changes you made.

But, here they are. The timing is perfect because temperatures are starting to drop below zero. Look at them, it is almost as if they were applauding me for finishing them!

There is almost half of the two skeins left. I think I will knit a striped scarf with it. I hope it will be enough so that the length is decent. I like the Skull Illusion Scarf by Ysolda. I will knit it without the skulls since I'm not sure when I will run out of yarn and it may then be difficult to balance the pattern.

Have a great end of the weekend!

Lazy me!

Instead of being productive and finishing my mittens - that are 90% complete by the way - I'm surfing the net! Once again...

Have you seen the Minutia '09 patterns on Berroco's web site? They are soooooo... little!

Here is my favorite one - I think:
Isn't it incredibly cute?

I'm also shopping sock patterns, needles and yarn for the Ravelympics 2010! I've been convinced, last night in Rosemere, that a first pair of socks would be a great challenge for me! And I think it would be realistic for 17 days!

According to Ravelry, Monkey would be a good choice! Do you think it's a good idea for a first pair of socks?

And I need needles... Would you recommend nickel needles for socks? They are so pretty. Or should I go for Harmony wood needles - that I already love? Decisions, decisions ;-)

I should go train, right?

Lonesome mitten!

It is supposed to be the "Handsome Mittens", not the "Lonesome Mitten"...

Seriously, I don't know if I took too long of a break from knitting this summer, but I seem to be a worse knitter than I was last year!

While I knit the first mitten in one weekend last year, I have been trying and trying - it must have been more than 10 times - to knit the second one.

First, I did not remember how to change colors. The instructions seem to confuse me. I don't understand why it says that I must bring the second color "from beneath" the first color. It turns out that I get the best results from just brining the second color in the front just as it is "from beneath nothing". I think it works out very well - see middle of picture below - even with the two increases. It's so simple in the end, no wonder I did not leave myself a note!

Second, I have had other times when one stripe became two - don't ask me how I do that! This morning, it turns out that the yarn was cut in the middle of the skein and when I wanted to undo a few stitches to have enough to weave it in, it resulted in having a stripe becoming two again... So, I tried and tried to correct that - without almost undoing the whole thing once again - but with no success. Hence, I started again the part with stripes. Grrr...

All in all, this is the current state of the second mitten. I've closed the TV hoping to concentrate better.

... and I will call the second mitten "Patience"...

I hope your projects are going well!

Have a great Sunday!