So, in this year of non-winter in warm North Carolina, I decided to make each of my sons a pair of double / lined wool mittens. You know, for throwing snowballs. I was intrigued by this Beth Brown-Reinsel design where the lining and outer mitten are knit as one piece, so there’s no sewing-up at the end. The mitten above is the first one, all done. Here is the second.

Immediately after finishing them, I put them on in the car. It wasn’t until I was trying to pull the second one on that I realized what I’d done. Do you see it? Don’t scroll down until you’ve thought it through.

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Yes, I absolutely did that. Ever heard of two left feet? Well, apparently I have two left thumbs. After laughing and maybe crying a bit, I decided to lop the thumbs off of the offending mitten and use my kitchener and grafting skills to mend the hole and make an appropriate new one. This pattern doesn’t have a thumb gusset, so it would definitely work, in theory. In my head, this post morphed into “how to easily fix a mitten thumb mistake.”

Fortunately, when I looked closely at the damage, it turned out that it was only the outside of the mitten that had the thumb in the wrong place, so there was only one thumb to move. Yes, it takes talent to knit the entire thing when your mistake is staring you in the face, but I managed.

Unfortunately, closing the hole with a kitchener stitch after removing the thumb looked messy, so I needed to rip the mitten back to the thumb.

Fortunately, I figured out that using the kitchener wouldn’t have worked anyway, as this version of the mitten has short rows worked across the knuckles. Moving the thumb as I needed to would have put it on the other side, making the mitten bend in an anatomically creative fashion.

Unfortunately, that meant more knitting.

Fortunately, I like to knit. And now, we have these. They are squooshy, and warm, and will fit me when my son grows out of them. Though, the fact that my husband can get his giant hands in there doesn’t bode well for J growing out of them any time soon.

I wish I had planned ahead and taken a photo when he first picked them up. His smile was amazing – it had settled a bit by the time I took this one. Both of my kids have knit-gift gratitude down pat.

Details:

Started:	25 Dec 2011
Finished:	8 Feb 2012
Pattern:	Yummy Mittens by Beth Brown-Reinsel. Link to pattern on Ravelry here. It was $6 US when I bought it.
Yarn:	Cascade Yarns 220 Wool, color 9555 white/black for the outside, 9409 blue/black for the inside. J picked the colors himself.
Needles:	US 5 / 3.75 mm for the cuff, US 6 / 4.0 mm for the liner, and US 7 / 4.5 mm for the outer shell.
Notes:	J had a palm circumference of 6.625″ / 16.8 cm. Cast on 36 stitches around. 12 rows between cuff and thumb. 8 rows between thumb waste yarn and beginning of short rows across the knuckles. 6.25″ / 16 cm from cuff to decreases on palm side. My Ravelry project page is here.

Happy New Year, everyone. I thought I’d share some quick photos of what I’ve been up to.

This keeps B’s earbuds from being a tangled mess, and also keeps him from appropriating his brothers’ as his own. This is basically a 4-stitch i-cord with a bit of circular knitting at the join. The idea and recipe are from Dorian Starr and can be found here. I used US 0 / 2.0 mm needles just because that was the set closest to me when I started; I’d go up a size or two next time. The yarn is some leftover Patons Kroy sock yarn in colorway 56603. Ravelry link.

I also plied up a big, fluffy skein of 2-ply oatmeal colored BFL that will be a sweater someday. It was hard for me to spin ‘big’ enough to get a worsted weight yarn. It’s quite squishy and pretty, though, so I’m happy. I was without a lazy kate for a long time, and so it took me forever to get from the spinning to the plying stage. My wheel got dusty, I’m ashamed to admit. I’ll have to show you the pop tart box I finally mangled to make a lazy kate sometime.

So, what are you all up to in the new year? I am spinning my Christmas roving now, and working on lined gloves that are much too warm for our mild North Carolina winters. My husband thinks I’m crazy (and he’s probably right), but I’m having fun.

Hey, everyone. I have not fallen off the surface of the earth, and I have been making things. Whenever life gets a little too crazy, I forget to do some of the things I like to do, like talking with you all. I did, however, remember to pay the bills, so I guess my priorities are in order somewhat.

So, to distract you all, here are some pretty socks!

These are Pointelle, from Cookie A’s latest book, Knit. Sock. Love. I keep on meaning to design some socks, but there are so many lovely patterns out there that I end up knitting someone else’s design instead. This pair is a birthday set for my lovely mother, who has patiently waited for some hand-knit socks for years. Now that I’ve completed this pair, I’m going to have to knit another set for myself – I love the look of this sock, and the pattern is easy once you get the hang of it. You just have to pay a bit of attention, like with many of Cookie A’s patterns.

One hint I found on Ravelry that I used for this set is Cat Bordhi’s “Hungry Stitch” method for the ssk lines. Don’t try this on the ssks in the lace section (ask me how I know), but the hungry stitch works a treat for the lines going across the sock in the plain section.

The yarn is Cascade Yarns Heritage Solids in Lilac. I purchased it mostly because it was solid, and I wanted to show off the pattern, and because it was in my mom’s signature color. The yarn was a little less springy than I’m used to working with, and I’m chalking it up to the nylon content (75% merino, 25% nylon.) Still, it was pretty yarn, and worked up well.

Details:

Started:	8 Feb 2011
Finished:	11 Mar 2011
Pattern:	Pointelle by Cookie A.
Yarn:	Cascade Yarns Heritage Solids, color 5614 (lilac)
Needles:	Metal dpns from Knit Picks
Notes:	Hungry Stitch ssk from Cat Bordhi helps the leg look great on these socks. Size is women’s US 6.

Happy New Year, everyone. It looks like the new year here will be even busier than the old one. I’m feeling a mite discombobulated, so I’m not even going to attempt to string this last set of projects into any sort of meaningful theme. Let’s just call it a brain-purge of all the 2010 projects I never got around to showing you.

Another lizard shirt, this one in blue. This one is made the same way as the first one was.

Rice packets! I put these in my sugar jars and laundry detergent to keep them from getting hard if a little moisture makes it into the jar. They make a huge difference, especially in my sugar jars. Without these little guys, we have to chip the sugar out!

A set of 2×2 rib socks for me. Yarn: Zen String Loopy Legends in Laurie’s Carolina Morning (100% merino wool – 3-ply light fingering weight. Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) dpns

Notes:

Women’s US size 6: 2×2 Rib, Cuff down, 64 sts. 6â€� cuff Heel flap worked in heel stitch over 32 sts for 32 rows. Heel turn: 1 (RS): sl 1, k16, ssk, k1, turn. 2 (WS): sl 1, p3, p2 tog, p1, turn. Continue heel turn. Work foot to 7 1/4â€�. Work toe decrease every other round until 32 sts remain. Then, work decrease every round until 20 sts remain. Kitchener. Ravelry link

There’s another bat just like Glidey around here somewhere, but he was lost almost as soon as he was completed. Someday he’ll turn up and I’ll get a picture.

Also, imagine a pile of this yarn. I finished up the fiber, but have no photos yet.

May your new year be happy and bright!

-Stacy

I am a steek-virgin no more. I was surprised that cutting my knitting didn’t make me nervous, but the sewing did! Since my sweater is slippery superwash wool, I followed the directions I found at Getting Stitched on the Farm and sewed the front of the sweater securely before steeking. I also cut up one of my original swatches, which helped my nerves immensely – it was good practice. If you’re looking for more steek tutorials, there is another nice one on Excercise Before Knitting, and then the thorough Steeking Chronicles at See Eunny Knit.

Here’s the neckline of the sweater. If you want to see the stitching close up, just click on that little thumbnail picture.

Since steeking, I’ve knit the first arm of the sweater. Even shortening it to the smallest size available made it a bit too long, so I’m going to rip out the cap shaping and about an inch of the sleeve and then reknit the shaping. I’m hoping that will bring it into ‘close enough’ territory. I tried the thing on as I was knitting it, but I forgot to take into account that the arm of the sweater isn’t attaching to my side, but rather to the sweater, which is a bit closer to my elbow than my actual side. Ah, well, live and learn.

I figure after reknitting it will come out an inch too short somehow, but I can block that out.

This is a different sort of post for me. Usually, I don’t post about things until they’re over and done. But, I’ve been procrastinating about this project long enough – I’m going to give myself a little motivation by outing my lazy self to you all. My pretty green rogue has been in sweater purgatory for… well, a long while. I’m kind of afraid to see how long it’s been. It’s been waiting for… a steek.

Today, I had a nice long block of time available while I waited for the boys. So, I sat at the edges of a mass of middle-school-aged kids and Lego robots, and started hemming the sweater. Here’s a before picture for you – I hope to have an after in a day or two.

I’m planning to machine sew the edges before I cut – this is slippery superwash wool, knit loosely. The yellow cotton you see in the picture is going to be my ‘this is the middle stitch’ guide for when I’m machine sewing (and cutting, for that matter!)

If any of you have advice or encouragement, please sing out in the comments. I need all the help I can get! Better yet, do any of you have projects sitting in steek purgatory? If so, consider digging them out and steek along with me.

Here are the last of the Olivers. Or, rather, I should say the last of the Olivers for a while. This is a nice, simple, attractive pattern, so I’m sure I’ll see it again. These are for J, who picked the glittery, loud yarn from my sister’s stash all by himself (hi, sis!). He adores them, but doesn’t really want to wear them because all that glitter also makes them a bit scratchy. Please note that he’s really sensitive – your mileage may vary.

I got quite a lot of practice in left leaning decreases over these three pair of socks, including a sort I’d never tried before – the ‘slip yank twist knit, or SYTK’ method from TECHknitting. I’ve decided that my personal favorite in stockinette stitch where you’re decreasing every two or three rows is a good old ssk with a twisted knit in the non-decrease row. It’s amazing how well that twisted knit stitch helps to even out the decrease line.

My folded and much marked-up Oliver pattern is currently missing, so I’ll just promise to post my new numbers for the socks when I come across it. You can find my size mods for the first pair of boy Olivers here (same size; yay twins.) I do recall that I made this pair a bit wider, and they could still stand a smidge more room in the width department. John’s man-sized Olivers are here.

Happy Weekend, everyone!

Details:

Started:	17 Dec 2009
Finished:	25 Jan 2010
Pattern:	Oliver by Marlowe Crawford. Link to pattern on Ravelry here. It was $7 US when I bought it.
Yarn:	Berocco Sox Metallic.
Needles:	US 1 / 2.25 mm
Notes:	Modifications to make it boy-sized: My kid’s foot is about 7â€� around and 8 1/8â€� long – child’s size US 3.5 / EU 35.5. 52 sts. 5â€� cuff. I’ll add the other details if/when I recover my notes. My Ravelry project page is here.

Have you ever had one of those weeks where you’re getting stuff done, a little here and a little there, but you don’t have much to show for it? It’s one of those weeks, craft-wise and life-wise!

Here’s a little tour of what’s been going on. Here’s my first mitten.
It doesn’t look quite like this anymore, as I ripped out the tip and reknit it. I originally finished a row too soon, and the point wasn’t quite right. I convinced myself that it didn’t matter, as no one but me or another knitter would notice. I managed to live with it for an entire week, mostly due to the fact that I knew if I picked out the top I’d have to add new yarn to reknit it. Yesterday, I decided I’d rather be happy with the mittens, so I’ve ripped and reknit. (Ahhhh; much better)

This weekend, John finished my new spinning wheel. We named her Emma. My first lesson is in a week; who knows if I can keep from playing with her before then! Here’s a photo from halfway through her first coat of oil – you can see what a difference it makes.

The latest pair of Ollies is over half done. I’ll be sure to show you when they’re done. Assuming that all of this progress actually *gets* me anywhere!

The Oliver sock pattern was such a hit with my husband that the boys caught his enthusiasm. Last Thanksgiving week, I found myself stranded in Ohio with no access to a local yarn shop (it was closed.) Facing a nine-hour drive back to North Carolina sans knitting, I called my sister the day before Thanksgiving, and she agreed to bring over a ball of sock yarn on Thanksgiving so I could work on some plain-Jane socks on the way back home.

I should have anticipated what happened next. After the wonderful chaos that was Thanksgiving, I sat down and was offered not a skein of yarn but a traveling yarn shop to choose from. Both of my boys chose sock yarn from Aunt Karen’s magic bag of yarn and I cast on for these Ollies during the trip. Thanks, Karen!

The yarn has a short repeat, so it was relatively easy to try and match the stripes. The matching came out better than I anticipated – right down to having the heel turn in all blue on each sock! The socks weigh 50g, but I did dip into the second skein of yarn, so buy two if you’re going to do 9 year old kid-socks in this yarn! The first skein made it through one sock and the cuff of the second. There was a little left over, but I thought it was a good place to match stripes for the rest of the second sock.

I am currently working on my third pair of Ollies, which is rather unheard of. I’m not sure I’ve ever knit three of one thing in a row before, let alone six of them. Details are below, as usual. I’ve included changes for whittling down the Oliver to a child’s size.

I wish you and yours a very happy 2010.

Details:

Started:	27 Nov 2009
Finished:	16 Dec 2009
Pattern:	Oliver by Marlowe Crawford. Link to pattern on Ravelry here. It was $7 US when I bought it.
Yarn:	Patons Kroy Socks Jacquards in colorway 56603. It took about a skein and a half to make a child’s size US 3.5 / EU 35.5.
Needles:	US 1 / 2.25 mm
Notes:	Modifications to make it boy-sized: My kid’s foot is about 7� around and 8 1/8� long. 48 sts (will do 52 next time). 5� cuff. Heel worked on 24 sts for 24 rows. Heel turn row 1: s1, p12, p2tog, p1 Heel turn row 2: s1, k3, ssk, k1 Gusset / foot modifications: Work as written through round 13. Round 14: knit. Round 15: Repeat rnd 9. Rnds 16-58: Repeat rnds 13-15. Work the rest as written (would change a bit about where the slant starts next time, to have it closer to the middle) until 1 1/4� from finished length. Work toe: dec every other row until 24 sts left, then every row until 12 sts left. Kitchener. My Ravelry project page is here.

Happy holidays, everyone!

My husband has found his sock pattern. And by ‘his’, I mean ‘the-one-I-shall-knit-for-him-again-and-again’. This clever pattern isn’t difficult at all, though it helps to keep track of what row you’re on. The sock has increases on the bottom and decreases on the top that result in both sides of the sock wrapping around the foot at an angle. This sock really hugs the foot, and John loves it. Here are a few photos and the details for those of you looking to make foot-huggers.

The lovely yarn comes from a hand-dyer out in Colorado. You can find Kimberly’s shop right here: http://www.catmtn.com/tyg-online/.

May your fingers be swift and clever, and your holidays relaxed and bright.

Details:

Started:	2 Oct 2009
Finished:	18 Nov 2009
Pattern:	Oliver by Marlowe Crawford. Link to pattern on Ravelry here. It was $7 US when I bought it.
Yarn:	Superwash merino fingering weight yarn in ‘latte’ from the Yarn Gallery. I got a size 10.5 US men’s pair of socks from one skein with plenty left over.
Needles:	US 1 / 2.25 mm
Notes:	I accidentally decreased until the foot was 70 sts instead of 72. Oops. They fit, but the next pair will have 72 sts on the foot. These were made with 8″ cuffs. My Ravelry project page is here.