Sunday, March 7, 2010

Still not done…

I finished the socks, but have really surprised myself by making them too big. I blindly followed the instructions and didn’t consider how long my feet (or other average feet) actually are. Dumb. I am really getting my money’s worth out of this Happy Feet yarn (very nice, BTW). So this morning I will rip back one of the toes and re-do. Shouldn’t take long.

It has been about 35 degrees this past week in Minnesota and I am not surprised to tell you that I saw the first dude wearing shorts. No kidding. This is the time of year when there are people wearing down jackets, boots, hats, and mittens, and others wearing shorts. I don’t know what spring fever looks like in other parts of the country, but this is what it looks like in Minnesota. I am getting a little spring fever myself. We were at our local home improvement store (Menards) and they’ve got landscape blocks for sale in the yard and the indoor garden supplies are also all on display. I anticipate needing a boat load of Miracle Gro – and any other similar products – to bring my rabbit ravaged yard back from the brinks.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Been a while...

I finally have a little something to show off....and by a little something, I mean just a little.

Here are the Columbine Socks from Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles by Cat Bordhi. I had to rip back much of the second sock because I did an extra stitch pattern (is that what you call it? the whole fourteen row repeat that creates the columbine lace pattern) on the leg of the sock. I was nearly half finished with the foot. And while it does not normally take long to knit socks, and these needles and yarn are really great, I was very slow with these. I am hoping that the leg is not too wide - I sometimes have a problem with knitting so loosely that even a size 0 creates too large a sock if there isn't sufficient ribbing...I want to give these to a friend who is a big fan of Birkenstocks and fun socks. I'd like to make something for a few of my gal pals this year.



And I can't believe it, but I have a few long suffering projects….these sea mineral mittens have been in the works for well over a year. They are a beautiful stranded pattern from www.spillyjane.blogspot.com – she creates some really beautiful mitten patterns. You can just see the little orange waste yarn that is holding stitches for the thumbs. That's all that's left.



Needles: Addi 0s
Yarn: Nature Spun Sport in primarily in Bamboo and Nervous Green

And see that lovely blue yarn? That's Berroco Ultra Alpaca - gorgeous, comfy, squishy yarn. I made Dashing Mitts and the Columbia Beret from this and I think I will make a cowl with what's left from the yolk of a lovely sweater from Custom Knits by Wendy Bernard. Love it.

However, winter's nearly done and I am nearly done with winter. In an effort to keep my spirit up and weight down, I have been doing a cardio kickboxing class 3 x a week for the past 6-7 weeks or so. It's a great mental boost.

And tonight I am watching Harry Potter and working on my sock. The husband went to bed at 8:20 - no kidding. So, I am on my own...blogging, knitting, watching...