Piles and Piles of Christmas Knitting (and stuff for me, too!)

I decided to enter a KAL featuring Christmas Knitting.

While only one entry can actually be entered, you can knit as many things as you want, provided you only post one finished object in the final thread for the knit-along.

While you can't knit until October the 15th (tomorrow), you can swatch and wind yarn before, so I spent yesterday winding a whole bunch of yarn for these projects.

1) Dragon Rider Gloves.  They're for someone who reads this blog, so I'm hoping not to spoil the surprise too badly.

2) Mittens on a String.  These are a simple free mitten pattern.  My giftee for these is one of those types, while a really sweet person, who would leave his head behind if it wasn't attached to his body.   Hence, the mitten-string.

3) Mini-Dalek Coffee Cozy.  This is going to be the most complicated of my Christmas gifts since I'm re-sizing the pattern.  It's just a matter of recalculating and shrinking stitches per inch, but it still has to be done. Gauge isn't absolutely crucial on this, which does give me a bit of wiggle room.

4) Pine Cone Mittens.  Yet another pattern from Knitting Everyday Finery, these are the only project I haven't created a Ravelry Project Page for, because the yarn for them doesn't need to be wound, it's a giant ball of worsted-weight mill ends I got ages ago that came pre-wound.   These are for the friend who was kind enough to lend me a netbook to get through the laptop being down.  He wasn't initially on my knitting list, but he really did come to my rescue since I need the computer for work.

Finally, there's a project for me, as part of the idea of this KAL is that you don't forget about yourself during the frantic rush of holiday knitting.  The idea is you get one entry for a gift, and one entry for something you knit for yourself.  So, like I mentioned before, I'm going to be making myself a fair-isle hat/cowl/mitten set.

It's going to be a busy next few months.

Knit Night fun!

Well, I went to Knit Night over at The Knit Cafe last night, after a few weeks of not being able to make it.

I got a lot done on my projects, which is great. . . and I came home with more yarn.

I usually don't buy yarn unless I know exactly what it will be, but the two skeins of Manos del Uruguay Wool Classica in "Blue Jay" just kept calling my name!

Once I got it home and had a look through my patterns, I realized it would make a perfect Tweed Hat and Scarf,  yet another pattern from Knitting Everyday Finery. It's a very versatile pattern book! (My only worry is if it pools funny, but I won't know that until I start knitting!)

Going back to the Knit Cafe for a second, I also found out that they will be hosting a class on designing your own sweater in November/December, and I'm really tempted to sign up. I've got a stash of Briggs and Little Softspun that I've got my own sweater idea for, and this might help me figure out exactly how to get the idea I have in my head translated into an actual sweater design.

Something else cast on! (Was this a good idea?)

So, pretty much as the link says.

I'm just currently balling up the yarn for a pair of Marilyn Shorts, from the same pattern book as the Flying Geese Mittens I made previously.  The book's called Knitting Everyday Finery, and I've been very impressed by the patterns inside.

Was this a good idea?

No, not necessarily.

I've had the yarn for these for a while -- I got a bunch of Skeins of Spud and Chloe Sweater at the Toronto Knitters Frolic earlier in the year.

The main colour is going to be Skydiver:

with the contrast stripes in Ice Cream:

I wasn't originally planning on casting these on for a bit, since I had so much other stuff on my needles.

But I'm finding that all of my (super-old) pyjama bottoms have started to wear out and just can't be patched any more.  So, I need new pj shorts, and these should suffice.  I'm hoping to eventually make several pairs.

Also, interestingly enough, the pattern calls for Rowan Wool Cotton. In the Ravelry Pattern Database, it's a DK-weight yarn, but the pattern actually calls for a sport-weight yarn.  So I'm not sure exactly how this is going to work out.  I'm definitely going to have to swatch this.

The Mittens are Done: No More Grubby Hands!

So, if you recall, I was working on a pair of fingerless mittens to keep the crap, crud and general -stuff- off of my hands while using the wheelchair?

They're done!

I finished them up at Knit Night last night. I was one of the last people out, trying to actually get them done, and the ends woven in!  I really do find I'm more productive with my knitting at knit-night.

. . . maybe it's because there's no internet. . . :D

Anyway, when I pulled them back out for a picture today, I had missed an end.  That was a two-second fix, though.

I really like the pattern. The cable on the back keeps things interesting.  They're called Flying Geese Mittens, by Mel Clark (who is very awesome and really sweet about answering questions on Ravelry, by the way!).  They're from a book called Knitting Everyday Finery, which I picked up off of Amazon and am totally loving.  The book is in print and easily findable on Amazon (and I've seen a few stores stocking it too). 

The mittens knit up very quick, (when I'm not ignoring them in favour of other projects!).  Only comment is that the small isn't that small.  If you have smaller hands, like me, you might want to take out a few more stitches around.  For my purposes right now, a touch loose is perfect, because that way they can also go over coat cuffs and such and keep them protected.  It's an easy fix, though, and several people have put how to make them a touch smaller in their pattern notes on Ravelry.

I've also signed up for another sock test knit, so there'll be more on that soon!