New mittens in progress

I am half done a new pair of mittens. They are super warm and thick. I used Noro Kureyon in colour 253 for the main body. It's the most boring Kureyon there is, but I wanted someting more than just plain white. I used Ístex Létt-Lopi for the black, because as I've said it's a great solid colour complement for Kureyon. They are knit from the bottom up with a Latvian Braid on the cuff (what can I say, I am crazy for them right now) with 3 nautical stars up the front and classy striping on the palm. The thumb has a little buttonhole for easier texting. After knitting, I duplicate stitched some colour on the stars with some leftover Kureyon. I just need to finish the second one. I would have finished it this weekend, but I was knitting another secret project is crazy cute.

More mittens and yarn (and some exciting news)

I am working on some new mittens right now, a bulky worsted weight pair on size 6 needles. Thick and warm. I have all this Noro and Létt Lopi leftover from all sorts of things begging to be used up. I actually finished a mitten yesterday, but there were so many little things I wanted to change, I figured I would just start over. There are just so many mittens I want to make and not enough time. Expect some awesome mittens in the future. My favorite part of making mittens is coming up with a good repeating pattern for the palm. This one is more of a simple pin-stripey one. I bet there is some sort of bug related Norwegian name for it. Would they be considered ants? Or lice? Or something else altogether perhaps.

On our weekend day trip I managed to finish the lace edging on the shawl I am working on. It's my first lace (and shawl) attempt. All that YOs and YO a million times knit-twenty-stitches-together-at-once stuff makes me nervous. Mostly all the loose yarn. I do love projects where there are complicated repeats over many rows. It's like a challenge to remember all those rows.

I also picked up some new yarn. I got some Kroy Socks for some gloves I am going to make. This photo does not quite capture the colour (flax) as they come off a bit cool here, but it is the perfect worn grey colour with a bit of a yellow-y tinge. The grey I'd imagine fisherman's mittens to be (as I live on the prairies far away from fishermen) Perfect for some men's gloves. I also finally bought some roving so I can make thrummed mittens. I am going to dye it some fun colours before I start.

The most exciting news is that I am going to have a pattern in the Deep Fall issue of Knitty! It comes out in October, so you will have to wait until then to see it.

Selbu-itus (or one mitten-itus)

So as I mentioned in my last post, I was working on some gloves from Selbuvotter. I finished one, but it was smaller than I'd hope. It fits my hand though, so thats ok. I picked up some Palette in Bittersweet Heather and Salsa Heather to start a newer, bigger pair, Annemor #15. I also went up a needle size. I stupidly bought the Susan Bates needles because they were the longest the store had, even though I am sure the longest in the other brand was more than adequete. These needles suck! The joins are so rough and catchy and the cable is so stiff. I love the pattern though. These are going to be some nice mittens. I seriously want to knit every mitten and glove in the whole book, but will probably stop at one more (some moose mittens or gloves! In bright orange and yellow mohair blend!) I must say though that the sizing is really wonky. The last one I did was supposed to be a men's medium, but the current ones I am doing are a men's small but have more stitches on the same needles and with the same yarn. Oh well, these ones should fit their intended recipient. 

I have three and a quarter mittens (or gloves) that need friends. So that is what I am going to do over the next couple of weeks. I also picked up some more Noro Kureyon (in the most boring colourway - light beige and medium beige with a bit of light tan) to go with some Noro in my stash for some other mittens I am going to design/make. I am addicted to mittens. No more starting anything until I have three pairs! I do have a shawl (with lacey bits!) and sock pattern in my future, I just want to get all these mittens done first.

The boys are doing great. O has a tooth and is standing up holding on to things more. And I can't just put him down, he just rolls and rolls all over the place getting into trouble. B knows his right from left way before I ever will. Is there such thing as directional dyslexia? I can't think in direction. Even something as simple as flipping a pattern or figuring out where north is takes me a lot of thinking. The other day I swear I spent an hour trying to figure out how to place thumbs on a mitten, and trying to figure out which side would correlate to which hand (and I still got it wrong). 

B and I make cookies every Tuesday evening. Usually we make our special recipe M&M cookies. Seriously, they are the best M&M cookies ever. But this week, we are going to make cut-able rainbow chip cookies because I picked up these awesome cookie cutters from Superstore. I had been looking for larger alphabet cutters, because my fondant ones are not so good for cookies. Or even fondant really. So when I saw these I was so excited. And they were only $4.99. Tomorrow is going to be a fun cookie night. 

Oops...

I keep meaning to write a post, but between teething and the beginning of summer, I've been too busy! I just finished typing up the PDF for a pair of mittens I designed. I still have to knit the second mitten, but I figure I'll get some people testing the pattern for me while I knit the second one.

So what have we been up to? Well, this past week, we went to the zoo for Canada day, which was fun but TOO HOT. We got to the Farmers' Market yesterday and got lots of delicious food (fresh peas! swiss chard and kale! perogies! tiny strawberries!). The weekend prior we went to Grand Forks where I got to indulge in some maniac shopping. Mostly for the boys, as B needed a lot of new clothes (and O needs nothing, and it is so so so hard to pass on the cute baby clothes). I might have boughten 1 or 2 (or 10) bottles of nail polish (one was for my sister). Walmart down there has a way better selection of cheap nail polish. I also got Grape Pop Tarts and Cupcake Pebbles. I heart junk food pretending to be breakfast. I also finally got around to getting myself some "office" supplies (the office being the coffee table, or if I need to be really productive, the dining table) including the cutest binder and file folders I could find. On the way home I FINALLY got a photo of the Team Zissou sign that I have only been trying to get a photo of for 8 years now. I just always forget where it is and get my camera out too late. This time, I was testing my new camera and took them by accident. Win.

 B has exploded with language. Things he say make more sense and have more correct pronouns and such. It's neat. And little O is getting giant! He is pushing himself and rolling all over the floor. He keeps trying to get into the kitchen. I think he knows where all the food is.

We've been getting out in the area more. Everything is 30-45 minutes away on foot, which is not necessarily a bad thing. We've gone on long walks to the bank and the library and home from the store, and in the process found lots of little parks and such. My favorite walk is the one to knitting group on Mondays because I can relax and listen to This American Life or Wire Tap on my iPod. Everyone is on holidays or gone the next while I think, but I will probably still go, just to get out.

Knitting wise, I finished the Prairie Boots. I just have to buy buttons for the left boot. I stupidly only bought six buttons, forgetting that each boot needed six. I hope they still have more buttons. I LOVE this pattern. I am going to make at least one more pair. Possibly a shorter pair. I'd also really like to make a pair for O for the winter. But I have other things to knit first, and another mitten idea in my head. I've become addicted to knitting dishcloths. Total instant gratification. If only I knew more people who liked knit dishcloths. As I stated above, I finished the first mitten from a pattern I designed. I really like colour changing yarn. I bought this yarn to make some grey and rainbow striped socks, but when starting this pattern, I really felt it would work for the mittens well, which it did. And I should have enough left over to still make the grey and rainbow striped socks.

Making mittens and a new camera!

I wrote up the pattern for the Leaves and Petals mittens I made the other day and put it up on sale on Ravelry today. My first real pattern (that I wrote down at least) Being on size 8 needles, its a quick knit (I know I say that a lot, but I love instant knitting gratification. So much, that if I am working on a bigger project and am getting bored, I will knit a dishcloth or something to get the excitement of finishing something). And it really showcases an amazingly bright ball of Noro Kureyon, which is one of my favorite yarns. I just love the really long colour changes, and how it can go from neon yellow to neon purple to dark green and it works. There is more about making the mittens in this post. The button below is a link to buy the pattern.

In other news, I got a new camera!!! My very nice mom picked it up for me yesterday at Don's Photo. I am still figuring it out, so I have not taken many real photos with it, but I love it. I got a Pentax K-X. I spent a lot of time reading reviews trying to decide on a camera, but in the end went with the Pentax. I used a K1000 all through university and loved it. It was a great camera, and it still takes great photos. A DSLR is a really different way of working that I am going to have to get used to. It does not feel as second-skin as my old SLR, but maybe that will come with time. The best part is that my old lenses (and I have 4) are compatible with my new camera. I have a nice wide angle, and a telephoto that I did not use much, but just realized it was a telemacro (even though I am sure I used it as such, haha). I have a lot of work ahead of me now in building a photography business. Don't forget, I want to take your picture!

O has figured out how to army crawl, and is now dragging himself around on the floor like a little worm. I need to figure out how to keep the Hot Wheels from the tiny baby! We've been getting outside more with all the nice weather. Chalk is amazing! In the sense that it gets B to stay in one place while I lounge around with little O and try to keep him from eating fistfuls of grass that he rips out of the earth with his tiny pudgy little hands. Today we went to a super fun birthday party for an adorable little girl. Which gave me the opportunity to knit these adorable monsters that I have been wanting to knit forever. I think it's my new favorite knitting pattern. It's well written and easy to follow and so cute. B has insisted I knit him blue ones. And I am more than happy to oblige!

Recycled Sari Silk Mittens (or as I like to call them Happy Hippy Mittens)

In my last post, I talked about the recycled sari silk mittens I was working on. I finished them tonight, and figured I'd write up the pattern here. Even though it's a really basic mitten pattern, its nice to have someone else figure out all the math stuff for you. I looked for patterns to use this ball of yarn so I could admire all of its colours and textures, but came up short. Unless I liked drop-stitch scarves (which I don't, all that loose yarn makes me anxious), or had just a bit more yarn to knit a bag (that I probably would not use, so that would be a waste), there just was't much out there. So I decided to use it to knit my favorite thing, mittens!

Mittens are a little bit of an unconventional use for this sort of yarn. It's not really stretchy or particularly soft and fuzzy (although a bit of washing with a gentle conditioner goes a long way!), and some people find it really difficult to work with. Maybe it is the particular brand, (Darn Good Yarn Wild Peacock Recycled Silk), but this stuff knit up really well. And quick! Because it's so chunky they knit up crazy fast, and only took a few hours per mitten. Sure they are not warm fuzzy wool mittens, but think of how much more positive your outlook will be on a cold February morning when you are wearing such colourful and exotic mittens! Like their yarn's namesake, they look like vibrant peacocks strutting their stuff. No one is going to be mistaking these mitts for their Thinsulate flip top mittens. Anyways, on to the pattern.

Happy Hippy Recycled Sari Silk Mittens

Yarn:
Darn Good Yarn Wild Peacock Recycled Silk (or any chunky recycled silk yarn)
The ball is 155 meters (or 170 yards), and I would say each mitten used about a third of it.
Needles:
Size 8 (5.0mm) double-pointed needles
Gauge:
17 rows and 14 stitches in a 4 by 4 inch square
Size:
Finished mitten is 9 inches long and 3 3/4 inches wide, it's on the larger side of medium
Note:
In the shaping of the thumb gusset, when I say M1, I mean make or increase however you feel comfortable, as long as it does not make a hole. I KFB'd (knit into the front and back of one stitch). For more information on increases look here. And here are decreases for good measure.

Pattern:
Cuff:

Cast on 21 stitches and divide equally between 3 needles

Knit 10 rows

This will give you a cuff of about 1 1/2 inches, if you want a larger cuff, just knit a few extra rows.

Shape Thumb Gusset:

K10, M1, K1, M1, K10 (23 stitches on needles)

Knit one row

K10, M1, K3, M1, K10 (25 stitches on needles)

Knit one row

K10, M1, K5, M1, K10 (27 stitches on needles)

Knit one row

K10, M1, K7, M1, K10 (29 stitches on needles)

Knit two rows

K10, put 9 stitches on holder or waste yarn, k10 (20 stitches on needles)

Body:

Right mitten:
M1, K10, M1, K10 (22 stitches on needles)
Left mitten:
K10, M1, K10, M1 (22 stitches on needles)

Both mittens:
Knit 17 rows

Top:

K2tog, K7, SKP, K2tog, K7, SKP (18 stitches on needles)

Knit 1 row

K2tog, K5, SKP, K2tog, K5, SKP (14 stitches on needles)

Place 7 stitches on each on two needles and bind off using kitchener stitch

Thumb:

Pick up 9 stitches from waste yarn, as well as one from each side of the inside thumb (11 stitches)

Knit 10 rows. In the first row knit the two picked up stitches together (10 stitches)

K2tog, K1, SKP, K2tog, K1, SKP (6 stitches)

Knit 1 row

Place 3 stitches each on 2 needles. Bind off using kitchener stitch

Weave in all ends and gently hand wash with a gentle conditioner to soften. Air dry. Dazzle!

Smitten with mittens...

All I can think about are mittens! Mittens I want to make. I am almost done my second pair in the past few days. The first, which is just drying, is a pair of felted neon-y Noro Kureyon and black stranded mittens in a geometric pattern I made up. The pattern is comprised of rows of leaves and petals that have been distilled from their original inspiration (bright flowers on the cover of Good Housekeeping) into a more South American geometric mitten aesthetic. When I was younger I remember getting mittens and gloves from Global Connections at The Forks that were handmade in South America. The geometric patterns were so simple and pretty, and the colours really made the bold pattern pop. I wanted to use a yarn that was really bright, inspired by both the flowers on the cover and these original mittens I once had (and lost, of course). Anyways. So I bought the brightest Kureyon I could find at Ram Wools. I paired it with a solid black Istex Lett Lopi. I find the Lett Lopi pairs really well with Kureyon, as they both have similar weights and textures, amoung other qualities. It also comes in a decent amount of solid colours to counterpoint the crazy  colour-changes in the Kureyon. Then after spending lots of time with graph paper and pencil, I came to a final pattern. It was a super quick knit, taking only a few hours for each mitten. Then I washed them twice to felt them up a little for extra warmth. If you click on the picture it goes to the corresponding Ravelry page. I am going to update it with the final felted project soon.

Ben was really excited by the finished mittens. He kept poking one with one of my needles saying "Making holes, fixing holes." Then he kept stealing them and using them as driving gloves. He told me "Just like a race car (driver)." What a cutie.

The other pair of mittens that I am still working on, is a pair of recycled sari silk mittens. It's a little bit of an unconventional mitten yarn, but when I tried to find a good pattern for the ball of Wild Peacock Recycled Silk I got from Darn Good Yarn, all I could find was drop-stitch scarves, and I am just not a fan of them. So I decided, why not make mittens! Because the yarn is so chunky, and the needles so big (8), they are a super super quick knit. I made up the pattern on the fly, and it turned out well. I think the mittens show off all the colours and intricacies of the recycled silk so well. I love all the colours! I can see these giving a lot of hope for warmer days come winter. Again, the picture links to the corresponding Ravelry page.

Little O is doing so well. He is almost 4 months old.He rolls over both ways, and is trying so hard to move around on his tummy. I brought out B's old spinning play mat (that is not quite the same one, its a newer model, but the idea is the same), so he could have a bit more fun while wiggling around. I found both of the boys really liked this because it allowed them to spin about really easily just by inadvertent foot or hand movements. Which made them both enjoy tummy time a lot more, because I found they were mostly getting frustrated by not being able to move. O's little coos sound less screechy and more syllable-ish every day. 

B is such a funny little guy. He loves his cars. Above is a picture of him with a car mall he asked me to make for him. He loves having places to park them. He calls parking garages "car houses." Anything an item is stored in is its house, and he loves finding houses for things. Sometimes I will find his Hot Wheels in perfect-sized spots for them in between books in his bookcase. He's recently started identifying objects by how many there are. He can identify one to four things. Like three cars or two books. Anything over four is four. 

The next few days will be busy. I have lots of baking to do (buns, cinnamon bread, cookies, cheese crackers, regular crackers, and scones or muffins) and the preparatory shopping for that. Our library books are due this weekend, and I have some more ideas for mittens I need to work out.

Busy, blah blah excuses.

I think i have been busy, but not really. It usually comes down to a choice of knitting or blogging, and the former almost always wins. Mostly because I want to finish up some stuff (of course I started two extra projects after finishing one, so I still have three on the go... which I will fix, I swear) before my sari silk comes. I still don't know 100% what I am going to do with it, but it's down to crazy mittens or shawl. I will probably do mittens because I hate doing scarves for the most part, and I think they would be beautiful mittens. Have I ever mentioned how much I love making mittens? They are my favorite kind of project. They are small enough that it's hard to get too bored, and for the most part, one ball of yarn makes two mittens, so you can invest in some really  pretty yarn. And you can do really intricate colour work in small doses. Most importantly, at least living up here, everyone needs mittens. So there is always someone to offload your creations to. I've been working out a few small patterns of my own lately, and I hope to properly knit them up soon once I get some more yarn.


I always said I would never knit socks, but then I saw this book the other day, and it changed my mind. Soo pretty. I especially want to make the Kai-Mei socks in a really pretty tonal yarn. But I think I'll start with some regular stripey Noro socks first. I love the way that stuff changes colour. The changes are so subtle and gradual, but the colours are always so different, its amazing. Knitting is a bad hobby for someone who loves colour so much! I just want to buy all the colours! Although, I must say finding the perfect green is really hard. They are never vibrant enough, or lean a little too blue, or are a little too muddy. One day!


It's my birthday this week which is fun. My dad is going to watch B for the evening. O will come with us, because he is pretty attached to me these days, and he is still young enough (and happy enough) to be portable. He is so adorable. Whenever I look at him he smiles and giggles at me. It's awesome. I think I am going to make Ryan take me to Kawaii Crepe. Yum.

Sewing and doing...

Yesterday was the start of the Kids Clothes Week Challenge. Having no time to sew, I spent some time cutting last night, and then a couple of hours sewing this morning. I made B some slippers, finished up some bibs I had already cut up, and a t-shirt for B. It was mildly disastrous, I have lost a lot of my sewing ability, and especially my pattern making ability. And the stupid machine kept un-threading (mostly my own fault). Even though my work is a little wonky, B likes it, and I guess that is what matters. He is wearing his slippers right now (based on this pattern - I made cutouts on the bottom and put a piece of fake leather I had around between the two sole pieces for grip). The bibs are pretty straightforward. The pattern is from Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing for Baby, but really, it's not the sort of thing you need a pattern for. The t-shirt I made the pattern for using one of B's t-shirts. The sleeves are a little off because I did them all wrong. When the Apple Store opened here, they were giving out free shirts, and I had meant to make mine B sized, because it's not the sort of shirt I would wear, so I am glad I finally got around to doing that. B LOVES the Apple Store. I think it's because they clapped a lot when it opened and he got really excited. And they have computers for him to play on. And he likes the mall in general.

I finished the body of one of my Squirrelly Swedish Mittens yesterday, I just need to add the thumb. I really like the colours and they are so soft. I know they will probably pill a lot, being alpaca, but I don't care, they are that soft. I want to finish all my on-the-go projects in the next week so I can start new ones! For Mother's Day I got a gift certificate to Darn Good Yarn (and a really colourful necklace from Aldo that B picked out and likes a lot, he sits there naming the shapes). I ordered some Banana Fiber in Rocky Mountain, and a skein of slightly unrefined Sari Silk. I hear the Sari Silk is a bit tricky to work with, but the colour payout is worth it. And the banana fiber sounds fun! I am excited. I love getting packages in the mail. I finished the Little Seedling Soaker, but not in time. It looks pretty cute on O though, so it's all good. It will be perfect with a t-shirt in the summer. I love the yarn, I wish I had more!

We gave B a mohawk the other day, it's pretty darn cute. He also got these new sunglasses that make him look extra cool. B and I spent a lot of time last week working on Mother's Day presents. They look really simple, but the amount of energy that it takes to get a 2 year old to focus on such a task for long enough is a lot. I helped him colour two mugs and paint a tote bag. If I had a nickel for every time I told him to keep his hands in the air while they were covered in fabric paint, I'd be rich! And it worked! No mess! This week so far, we are just taking it easy, no grand plans.

Really??

They had to commission a study to figure this out?

Kids Who Can't Even Read Recognize Logos For McDonald's, Disney And... Toyota? - The Consumerist

Kids are capable at recognizing pictures at a young age. Logos are a pictorial representation of a company Kids like Happy Meals and car rides and well, Disney. Just like they like kitty cats and balls and chairs. No one bats an eye when a kid recognizes a chair. Logos are just a part of the modern world in my opinion. And recognition is why they exist. I think perhaps it would be more serious if a kid could not do this sort of thing.

Anyways. So I finished my mittens, and while I like them a lot, I think I might rip them apart and start again on bigger needles. It sucks I had to finish them to decide that, but at least they knit up really quickly. But I put them away for now to come back to later. I started a new pair of mittens which I am really excited about. I just love the little squirrels! I've been wanting to do these for a while. I got some pale blue and aubergine alpaca, which looks really pretty in my opinion. And so soft!

Everyone in the house is sick. It sucks. And so does snot. Luckily, the littlest member of our family is the least sick. B and I spent a lot of time on the couch today. Yesterday I broke out the oil pastels and crayons and we did some drawing.

Here's B trying to draw his current favorite car. He really liked the oil pastels. I figure someone has to get use out of the forty dollar box I had in the storage room (oil pastels are one of those things where more $$$ means better quality and better art). They just apply so smoothly. I had fun doing some drawings too, and then B made me draw his favorite cars. I used my drawing in foreshortened perspective skills that I learned from drawing rope for hours until I never wanted to look at rope again. Seriously. I think I spent the first two months in art school drawing rope. And while it is probably the most unfun i have ever had, I hate to admit how much I learned from it. I really need to learn to draw cars better. I think I still draw them like I did when I was 7. I need to draw more period. I think I am going to make a point of trying to draw every day or two for a bit to get my brain and hand working properly together again. We'll see.

Oh yeah, B has taken to marching around the house pretending he is leading a marching band. He asked for a hat and a baton today, so I found a pirate hat and made a baton out of markers. Somehow, he got Ryan to be the marching band leader. Hilarious.