I'm on a definite colorwork kick, as this picture will show.
That's the start of two different mittens. The blue and black my second Nordic Mitten from an old issue of IK (I knit the first one in July of 2005). The rust and brown is the start of an Anemoi Mitten. I love Eunny's modified corrugated ribbing. Brilliant! Man, I'd so much rather work on these than study for my finals. They'll have to do as study breaks.
The finished mitten has been blocked and I have pictures. It's not completely dry yet, the double thickness of wool is taking a while to dry, but the fit is much better after blocking. I should cast on for the second tonight, to avoid Second Mitten Syndrome, which probably rivals only Second Sock Syndrome in its prevalance.
I took before and after blocking pictures, and the magic of blocking has not failed me.
Palm-
Before
After
Back of Hand -
Before
After
I also started the heel on the Koigu socks last night waiting for Harry Potter and am about halfway through. Thanks Kris for the recommendation for the Anne. I started a mini-clap, but if that doesn't work out, I'll try the pooling scarf next.
I finished the mitten last night right before bed, and blocked it when I got home from work today. Hopefully it will be dry by tomorrow for pictures! Most of the unevenness is gone, and it looks much better.
I also got a pretty neat email today. Someone from Artyarns wants to put a picture of my Supermerino socks up on their website. I really enjoyed knitting those socks and I'd been thinking of coming up with a sock pattern using their yarn. Something to show off the stripey-ness, maybe chevrons... it's all still in the planning stages.
One more thing, I need advice for the Leaha gift. I have a hank of Schafer Yarns Anne in a really beautiful colorway. I started the lace smoke ring, hated the pattern and ripped that out. Then I started a simpler smoke ring, but it's too boring and I know I'll never finish. I'm thinking of making a mini-Clapotis, narrower and more scarf shaped, as I only have one hank, but worry I'll boredom out of that too. It's really lovely yarn, but it doesn't want to be any of the things I've tried so far. Maybe that's because I want it to be a Flower Basket Shawl, for me. Leaha has no use for a FBS. I'm sure she'd like it, and think it was pretty, but I want to make something to keep her neck warm and voice safe in the colder weather. Maybe I'll start the mini-clap tonight and see what the yarn thinks. It's holding up surprisingly well to all the ripping, thank goodness.
Something was poking me under the arm all day. I came home and found this -
That would be a piece of metal sticking out of my bra! Not comfortable! I'll be sewing that hole shut tonight, because I need to be able to wear it still.
Back on topic, I got a picture of the Koigu socks that shows the color much better, but has weird shadows. I didn't use a flash to get better color, and the sun is a little low at 7pm for good pictures. I included the sheepy for scale. Only 1" to the heel! I'm really excited to wear these, the colors are so cheerful.
The Nordic Mittens have been picked back up. I knit 5 rows last night before bed and remembered how fun they are. Only 20 rows to go, and just 5 until they start getting shorter. I think I'll work on them now actually, and there might be half a FO up tomorrow!
I missed a day and a half of work this week with the stomach flu. This ment I got to spend the time drinking gatorade, watching Law and Order, and knitting these:
I'm over halfway through the hand now, and love how they're turning out. In a couple more rows I'll start decreasing and the rows will really start to fly by.
I'm a little concerned about the puckering, which you can see in this close up (I love macro mode - and I actually managed an in focus shot)
Once I finish this mitten I'll block it and see what happens. If it doesn't work out, I'll rip and start over, no huge deal I guess.
I also made progress on the mom sock and am working on the toe. They haven't seen much work lately as I got a new purse that doesn't have room for both my shoes and knitting. I'm trying to come up with ways to remedy this.
New Harry Potter in 9 days! I'm still on track to re-read the first 5 by the 16th. I read 3/4 of PoA yesterday and will probably finish it tonight. I think that one is still my favorite.
The Nordic Mittens are coming along great. Here are some quick pictures before I head to a BBQ
This is about 20 rows of 75 into the mitten.
Last night I decided to learn to knit continental style and norwegian purl because I was working on something in seed stitch. Once I got used to having the yarn in my right hand (yep, I'm still knitting lefty, that cannot be changed) it went much faster. Not needing to move the yarn to the front to purl will make seed stitch and 1x1 ribbing much less painful.
I'd been meaning to learn both these techniques in order to start my first colorwork project. I couldn't keep myself from casting on around midnight last night, and now I have this:
The pattern is from last winter's IK, the Nordic Mittens. I decided to go with only two colors, instead of the rainbow effect in the original. I'm about 1/3 through the cuff and really looking forward to the colorwork once I get to the chart.
I've been trying to justify how these fit into my monthly goals posted yesterday, and the only way they do is if I give these away for Christmas. I don't know about that, but how often are mittens really necessary in SD anyway?
I also sent in my Knitty submission Thursday night. It's been over 24hrs and I haven't heard a no yet, so I'm optimistic.