Thursday, February 12, 2015

February Knits

Would it be a total cop-out if this little heart was the thing I knit for February, for my knit one thing a month challenge?

I've had this lovely soft, Valeniney colored yarn for a couple of years, since I made my sister a pair of fingerless mitts from it, and I've been wanting to knit a heart from it, but it seemed too complicated--figure eight cast-on...knit the front and the back at the same time...what's that all about?

I finally decided to take the plunge and stitched this cute little guy up Sunday afternoon. The cast-on and nearly seamless knitting turned out to be quite easy, but my make-ones left huge holes on one side of the heart and my grafting together at the top is abysmal. I'm a little tempted to make myself knit another one without mistakes, but that might not happen until next Valentine's Day (unless I get inspired to make these for Christmas ornaments).

 I've also been working on an actual, real-live knitting project, not just fiddle-faddle (as my mom calls things like that little heart, the phrase stolen, I believe, from Elizabeth Zimmerman). There are two kinds of people in this world: those who adore fingerless gloves (or mitts or wristers or whatever you want to call them) and those who think they're ridiculous. I fall squarely in the adoration camp. I have two pairs, which I wear in my freezing cold office all winter, every day outside in the fall and spring, on milder winter days (by "mild" I mean above 20 degrees F, not that we've had any days like that recently), and underneath my regular mittens on really cold days, and anytime I want to write, take pictures, fasten snowshoes, or do anything else with my fingers in the winter.


This pair I'm very excited about--they're extra long and fashioned of varied-width stripes in some super soft cotton-wool blend from my stash, in my favorite shade of lime green and a kind of gray-purple color. They're coming out a little wibbly-wobbly due to my uneven tension (I keep trying to keep my stitches tight, but then I pull the running yarn too tight and make a pucker), and my attempt at jog-less stripes is very joggy indeed. I've also come to a stand-still with the cast on after the thumb hole...totally flummoxed by the directions.

You know, I've been knitting for 19 years, and you'd think after all this time I might actually be kind of good at it (admittedly during the first 12 of those 19 years, I averaged only one project per year, so slow progress is to be expected, I suppose). The first thing I knitted was a seed-stitch scarf (because garter stitch is for chumps, or so I thought then), followed by a hat knit on double-pointed needles with color work, and then a pair of mittens. It's like I dived right in at the advanced beginner stage and there I've stayed all these years.

Anyway, to bide my time while I wait for an answer to my fingerless mitt dilemma, and also because I should do this while there's still knee-deep snow outside, I've turned my attention to recreating the mitten E lost one week after I gave them to him for Christmas last year (as in 2013).


It's taken me a while to get around to it, and when I went to buy the Noro half of the yarn, I found this color was discontinued. Not only that, but I had no idea what color it was (not having done anything useful like write down the color code somewhere or put that information in Ravelry). I spent a good long while scanning through projects on Ravelry until I found a match from someone who did keep notes on the color. I then found two skeins for sale on Ebay.

When the yarn arrived, the next problem I faced was needles: the pattern calls for size 11, but I searched the house high and low and could find no 11s, only 10.5s. I've made this pattern five times before, but could not for the life of me remember what I had used for needles, and of course, no notes. I did find a picture of the pair I made for C, in progress, with thick bamboo needles in the stitches, which tells me I have a pair of size 11 bamboo needles hiding out somewhere. And then I found a picture of E's mitten in progress, with a single plastic needle in the frame...the same type of plastic needle as my 10.5 pair. Thank goodness I take silly pictures of my knitting! So, needle and yarn mysteries solved, I cast on for a new right mitten, and I think I should have it done before all that snow outside melts.

In the meantime, will I be tracking my yarn colors and needle sizes on Ravelry? I've done it for the fingerless gloves, so we'll see. Maybe this the the start of a new, more organized me.

As always, pattern links and notes on my Ravelry page. And goodness, sorry but this was a long post. I guess knitting gets me all wordy!

10 comments:

  1. I love your heart. And I love fingerless mitts too. Can't wait to see yours. I have been thinking about knitting an extra long pair.

    Have a great weekend.

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    1. Thanks, Kim. Always love to find a fingerless glove kindred spirit!

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  2. I have knitted several pairs of fingerless gloves as presents but not a pair for myself......perhaps I should rectify that one? Love the heart :)

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    1. Oh, for sure sustainablemum...you should definitely rectify that!

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  3. I love seeing people's knits! and your yarn stash is so nice. Love the colours. I had to laugh when you said you couldn't find your needles. I totally get that. Half of the time I cannot find them because I am already using them for another project and I too, don't list everything on Ravelry or what needles I've used.

    At the moment, I am knitted some yoga socks - with the help of my new Furls yarn bowl which I am so in love with! Don't you just love yarn bowls?! Your is lovely. :) And I have a turtle-necked poncho I've been working on for years. It takes seven skeins. I'll get it done someday. ;)

    Just friended you on Ravelry, by the way. Happy day!

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    1. Thanks, Tamara! It is fun to see what people are knitting...almost as good as a knitting circle (but not quite). :) I want to see these yoga socks (are they toe-less? sticky-bottomed?). I'm going to go peek at your Rav page right now.

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  4. I loved reading the story about your Noro yarn and needles. I'm sure it will be a much loved mitten you are going to make :)

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    1. Thanks, Lilly's Mom! I can only hope it lasts long enough to be loved.

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  5. All your yarn is so lovely. That heart is adorable.

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