Kate’s Alice

Alice | Lion Brand Vanna’s Choice Print | US 6 [4.0 mm] | 2 March 2010

Dead simple pattern, finished in a day, for a friend, for her niece for her birthday.

walk like an egyptian

With all of the knitting I’ve been doing for others, I wanted to have a little something for me.

I working on the Egyptian Mittens, found here or here. There are charts, and the pattern is in Finnish, but Google Translate takes care of that.

They are so pretty! Even though it’s been warmer here lately, I know I’ll want warm mittens when winter hits. I can knit a chart repeat in an evening, so as soon as we’re done moving, these are going to be my podcast knitting. I’m about halfway done, and I can really see these being finished by Christmas.

What are you knitting for yourself to keep warm this winter?

It seems I’m going through a pink phase

This past Saturday, Matt and I went to the JMU v GMU basketball game at my alma mater, GMU. [Matt went to JMU]. Neither of us actually went to a sporting even for our schools when we were students there, so it seemed appropriate that we would go to one when both schools were playing. Matt’s mom won the tickets from her work, so we didn’t even have to pay.

We had a lot of fun, and GMU stomped, JMU, beating the Dukes by over 10 points. I think that says something about my school, even if JMU has way better food.

Of course, I took knitting with me.

I have fingerless gloves, but I wanted something that would actually cover my whole hand. The stash was tossed, and out came the single skein of Cotton Fleece that I’d bough a while ago to swatch for a sweater. I decided not to use the yarn for a sweater, but the left overs were more than enough to knit myself a pair of mittens.

They are actually done, I finished them up a little while after taking this picture. I did, however, knit the equivalent of two pairs, because I had to rip them out a few times to get the fit right. I’m happy with how they turned out, and will use the recipie again in the future.

They go well with my new pink socks, and I have Malabrigo in the same color to make myself a Gretel. I think I’m wanting the bright colors to contrast with the winter. I like it so far.

Friday Morning Jammies!

That whole “blog more” thing isn’t working out as well as I would like it. School hit like a barge full of rather large, smelly things and it’s taking up more time than I thought possible. But that has not kept me from knitting. Actually, the amount of reading/writing/procrastinating I am supposed to be doing makes me knit more and faster. I think it’s because my fingers and the Yarn know that I have a limited amount of time, so I have to get as much in when I can.

It’s amazing to me how fast Eunny Jang’s Endpaper Mitts knit up. They went from this:

To this:

In no time at all. I think it took me about 2 weeks to finish them, but that was working on them only when I had a spare moment. I can knit 3 repeats a day of stranded knitting before my hands start to get tired, so I think I could whip out a pair of these in a week, no problem. I am thinking of making a pair of Endpaper Mittens- I cooked up a chart in Excel, did some Math [Math here meaning I guessed and measured and guessed some more] and am hoping to start those soon. I’ve been wearing these mitts every day! They keep my hands warm and I could make 90 milliony.

The weather has been cold and I have been wearing a lot of my hand knits. There is something so satisfying knowing that you’ve made something pretty and practical. I’ve received a lot of compliments on the hand knits I’ve been wearing- mostly from other knitters! I am taking a history class this semester [Burial/Ritual in Medieval Europe. The teacher looks like Professor Trelawney- I’m not kidding] and at the end of the first class I overheard someone saying “I can’t possibly buy MORE fibre!” To which I responded “There is NEVER too much.” There are actually a group of us fibre folks in my history class and one of them is Lisa from Ravelry [Hi Lisa!].

This is my little Pine Cone Scarf, knitted from left overs from my Wyvern Socks. It’s light and just right when I need a little something around my neck.

I’m also working on my first honest to goodness lace shawl. I have been browsing all over Ravelry and blogs and am amazed at all of the lovely shawl and stole patterns available. The people who knit them seem to get through them so quickly, and they always looks so light and airy that I just had to try one. I had originally thought of doing Anne Hanson’s Cluaranach– but the yarn wasn’t right and I think I’ll wait until I get my graduation silk to knit that one.

I read that the Icarus Shawl was simple and good for people who “only want a little bit of lace.” Since it is my first shaw, that sounds good to me.

So instead of reading for school, of course, I cast on for Icarus:

This is actually a practice for me; I am going to knit another one for my mother-in-law out of yarn salvaged from a sweater my father-in-law gave her that had holes in it. This one has weird pooling, but I don’t mind. I LOVE the colours. This is two repeats in three days, but those purled rest rows are getting long and longer.

Lastly, this is my travel project. I always have a pair of socks on the needles:

Love Day is soon, in two weeks, and it’s important to the husband that we celebrate it. We try to show love for one another everyday, but we also like to set aside the time to something really nice. It’s an excuse to get dolled up all fancy and enjoy each other’s company. We are a fairly low key and casual couple, preferring jeans and sneakers to skirts and high heels, so we take the chance when we can. I’m knitting Matt the socks above because they are obnoxiously colourful and I know he’ll love them. I have about three more repeats to knit on the leg and I’m done. I should finish them today.

Ugh, there is no sun today, and I’m never home when there is, so I’ll try to get better pictures soon.

It looks like the picture on the top today, I’d rather it look like the picture on the bottom.

Have a great weekend!

EDITED TO ADD: Stitch Marker Sale This is the etsy shop of the blogger Aija at sockpr0n. I LOVE her stitch markers- she uses semi-precious stones and pearls [haha, I almost wrote purls !!]. They are really well made- the jump rings are CLOSED and the stones don’t shift around on the head pin. I love using them even when I don’t really need a stitch marker- they are that nice. They are pretty enough just to wear alone as pendants or jewelry. I have two sets, one on the way, and am always looking to see when she updates. Go! See! Buy!
[Photos by zero.etsy.com]