December 22, 2005

A Holiday Miracle

Last night at the most reasonable hour of 8:30 p.m. I finished weaving in the ends on the Thrum Mittens! Two completed Christmas projects, one to go. The mittens are snuggly and warm (maybe too warm, but it gets really cold in Wyoming) and oh so cute. What do you think?

Project Specs:
Pattern - Fleece Artist Thrum Mitten Kit - a gift from my lovely secret pal

Needles - US 4 (3.5 mm) Clover dpns

Modifications/Thoughts - I made the adult size medium and I think it will be a good fit. The second mitten is a bit tighter than the first because I used larger pieces of roving, which took up more space, but I don't think it's too noticable. Hopefully. I ran out of roving on the very last thrum row of the thumb, so I had to use a little bit of the pink roving Leanne sent me as a secret pal gift, and it worked just fine. I really liked knitting these mittens and hope the recipient will like them.

Posted by Stephanie at 9:29 AM | Comments (14)

December 7, 2005

A Mitten

I've been busy taking your advice. Thank you all so much. I've decided not to stress about Ombre. I won't get it done, but it will give me good Christmas knitting and I should be able to finish it up fairly soon after Christmas. I spent last night seaming Ronnie and have another night's worth of work on it. But, it is in the homestretch, which makes me happy. I also finished the first Thrum and boy is it one warm mitten. I wished I'd had a pair this morning when I left for work (-27 air temp - no wind chill) - it was so cold it hurt to breathe. But there will be Norwegian mittens in my near future, and taking Thrum for myself kind of defeats the whole spirit of giving thing.

Anyway, pictures of the finished mitten

And the really funky one

You can see where I changed the method of inserting the thrums, but I don't think its noticable from the outside.

I'll just be hanging out plugging away on these Christmas knits and reminding myself that I love to knit and Christmas is about giving to those you love. If I sneak a row or two in on the socks I started right before I go to bed, well who can blame me - they're yummy. What? Socks? More on the socks tomorrow.

Have a great day and stay warm, where ever you are.

Posted by Stephanie at 1:29 PM | Comments (19)

November 30, 2005

Thrumming Along

With the completion of Ronnie, I've been dedicating my commuting and lunchtime knitting to Thrum and am happy to say that I'm making progress.

I've played around with the technique on this mitten a bit. The kit was a gift from my secret pal and comes with instruction on how to thrum. I also referenced a pattern in Folk Mittens that discusses thrumming and looked at the info from the Yarn Harlot. Combining all this information, I've come up with a method that works for me and I think gives a nice look to the mitten. But, as a result of all that experimenting, this mitten is a little wonky. The thrums are different on the first part than they are from about 3 inches up, the spacing of the thrums is a little messed up (my fault entirely - apparently I don't know how to count - who knew?), but all in all I think it's cute and I don't think the recipient will care too much. At least now I have it figured out and the second mitten will be a bit better.

Posted by Stephanie at 9:50 AM | Comments (12)

November 22, 2005

Harry Potter Update

Today is the day the Gryffindor Socks meet their new owner. I'm nervous and scared that she'll like them, but I'm trying to think positive. So, after a bit of blocking, I put them in the sock sleeve.

Thanks to Carolyn for the idea.

And then I wrapped them up. Ok, well there wasn't actually any wrapping involved unless you count the tissue paper I wrapped around them before I stuck them in this box.

I'm like a nervous mother sending her first born off to school on the first day. What if she doesn't like them? What if they don't fit? What if...? What if...? What if...? Yep, I'm neurotic. I can't help myself.

In other Christmas knitting news, I started the Thrum Mittens on Saturday.

This was my first successful attempt at a tubular cast-on and it went off without a hitch. I don't know what the problem was the last time I tried it, but whatever. I really like these mittens, even though I haven't worked on them much. However, if any of you know a good trick for getting that roving to stay twisted on the needle while I'm moving those stitches over it, I'd be very grateful. I've found the whole process to be a bit awkward - I feel like I have too many needles and too many thumbs.

Today is my last day of work this week - I do so love a holiday week. Tomorrow I'm staying home to bake pies and rolls and knit as much as I can. It sounds like the perfect day.

Posted by Stephanie at 8:30 AM | Comments (19)