Enjoying the break

 

I've been enjoying my break from technology. I'm amazed at how much I can accomplish whenI stay off my devices!

Since my last post, I've completed 22 pairs of wrist warmers. I'm going to start passing them out at school today. I've told the girls that I hope to have wrist warmers for all who want them by Christmas break. So far, so good!

Another shade of pink

I've ordered another skein of Pink Quartz from Patons. I managed to knit 5 mitts out of one skein. What does one do with 5 mitts? 

While I'm waiting for it to arrive, I've started with another shade of pink from Alpaca Warehouse, Antique Rose. This is an 15% Alpaca, 85% Acrylic blend. It's much denser than the Paton's wool.

I found some dot journals when I was dusting, and decided it might be fun to keep track of what I'm knitting. My friend Denise keeps journals of what she's made. My journal for the past 15 years has been my blog.

This morning I discovered that I started at the back of the book instead of the front. How do I know? The pages don't turn easily! 

Knitting binge

 

My knitting binge continues! Right now I'm focusing on very simple wrist warmers/fingerless gloves for some of the high school girls. We've had some banter going on for over a year about the color pink. I have never been a big fan of pink, but I've been told it's a good color for me. So, I wear pink once in a while.

Last year a couple of the girls told me I should be wearing pink on Wednesday. I had no idea why until about a month ago. It's from the movie Mean Girls, which I had never seen. I watched the movie about a month ago, and then I understood why pink should be worn on Wednesday.

I have made a point of wearing pink every Wednesday this school year, and the girls and I get a laugh out of it. With the weather turning cooler, the girls have been complaining about how cold they are. I decided they needed pink wrist warmers/fingerless gloves. I played around with stitch count and finishing last week, and I now have something that will work for me. The girls liked my prototypes, so the serious knitting has begun. Quite a few girls have show interest in the project, so I may have created a monster!

I'm using worsted weight wool with size 4 needles. I've cast on 32 stitches, and knit in garter stitch for 6". I then slip stitch the sides together using a crochet hook, and hide the ends. I did have to buy pink yarn for this project. I did start knitting a pink sweater for myself about 20 years ago. I ended up throwing it out. The size was wrong, and I just couldn't take the pink any longer! Somehow, smaller projects in pink don't bother me.

My brother and sister came down to visit this weekend, and Mom wanted a picture of the three of us wearing our Orenberg warm shawls. Mom and I wore ours folded in half as a rectangle. Janet folded hers into a triangle. Mom did a beautiful job on all three. It took her about a year each to knit hers and mine, mainly because we were both distracted by other projects. She knit Janet's in about three months. Mom's is out of a lace weight acrylic. Janet's and mine are out of a silk/merino blend. All three of us will stay warm this winter!

Ready for blocking

In the past few weeks, I've spent most of my spare time working on a Craftsy class, Alder Shawl. I was hoping to expand my understanding of chart reading and learn some new skills. The only thing new I learned was the Knit Two Together Through the Back Loops Bind Off, which I really enjoyed.

This is my first half circle shawl. The design is wonderful, but I am not a fan of DK weight yarn. I prefer working with fingering or lace weight. 

It's easy to see that this shawl needs to be blocked, which I will do after the weekend. My sister is coming to visit, and I use the bed that she will be using for blocking my shawls. Since this yarn is a cotton/acrylic blend, I think it will take a couple of days to dry. It will be nice and cozy on cold winter days!

To post or not to post

I have been very busy knitting and crocheting since daughter Carol's wedding, and posting to my blog has really not been a priority. I haven't been in the mood to post bits of progress, so I keep asking myself if I have anything worthy of posting. Finally, the answer is yes!

My Hitchhiker shawl is finally finished! I'm short one pattern repeat, because I didn't pay attention to the yardage requirement. However, I don't think very many people will come up to me and ask to count the number of teeth in the finished piece. 

This is knit with Malabrigo and is fantastically soft!

I finished another Kria shawl for Mean Green Goes Pink night. I was doing a little online shopping, and through a little back and forth conversation about Wollmeisse yarn with an Etsy seller a discussion was started about knitting and crocheting for charity. The shop owner sent me a sample of Peruvian highland wool, the vibrant pink yo see in the picture. I finished it off with Wool of the Andes from KnitPicks.

A couple of weeks ago, Mom and I went yarn shopping at our favorite shop, Yarn Hollow. Jamie, the owner, had posted a picture of the Moreton Street Cowl, and I wanted to see it in person. This is knit in hand-dyed fingering weight yarn (Cherry Blossom) and Rowan Kidsilk Haze. It is absolutely luxurious!

There was a lady shopping for yarn while we were there, and she asked Jamie how long it would take to knit this cowl. Jamie said she wasn't sure, because she had stopped working on it to finish a top she wanted to wear on a vacation to Scotland. She guessed two weeks. With that in mind, I headed home and started right away. I started winding my hand-dyed yarn into a ball on Friday evening. Two weeks later, I finished my cowl at 10:30 in the morning. Jamie had it right... two weeks!

I really enjoyed knitting this cowl, but I'm not overly fond of the point. I think I may look and see if I can find a pattern that is more rounded, or I may try to figure it out on my own!

Kria 2 finished!

 

I finished my second Kria shawl just a few minutes ago. There's a YouTube tutorial for this shawl, which may be helpful to some.

I'll probably wait until the weekend to block it. This one is for our school's annual Mean Green Goes Pink night, which is a fundraiser for the Beverly K. Roberts Foundation. This is a local charity that benefits local cancer patients.

I'm thinking of putting it in a basket with a cozy mystery and a selection of hot chocolate, something I could go for!

Now I have to decide which yarn I want to work with next!

Progress

 

I spent a good portion of the afternoon crocheting, and I made pretty good progress. I'm into the lighter pink portion of the yarn. The pink will fade into white and then grey. This Kria shawl is working up so quickly!