It seems like I'm constantly finishing knits for myself in the wrong season. Winter knits in summer. Summer knits in winter. :) This time, though, I DID actually finish this cardigan in winter. Unfortunately, it also just happened to be the wrong season of life: I was 8 months pregnant and couldn't button it. ;) (I tried wearing it open, but it just looked funny with my baby belly.) And, once I could button it, the tulips were blooming and it was just a little too balmy out for a wool sweater!

So, it sat in my closet waiting patiently for this fall and winter. I have to say, though, that it was worth the wait. I've really enjoyed wearing it! I love the fit and style. Goes with so much! 

It really was a fun knit, too. It's knit top down, all at once (with raglan shaping) and it was awesome to be able to try it on as I went and make a few adjustments as needed! (More on the adjustments I made here.) No seaming at the end, too - perfect! 

Project: Woodstove Season Cardigan
Pattern: Woodstove Season
Yarn: Knit Picks' Gloss Heavy Worsted (discontinued) - "Parsley"

We have had an unusually dry winter here in Washington. Hardly any rain and no snow. Just lots of dry, cold weather! So, this was a pleasant surprise this morning... 5 inches and counting!

Makes me want to bundle up and knit lots of warm things. :) Easier said than done, though. I've actually been on a knitting hiatus for a while now. Somehow I injured my left thumb by being a mom and knitter about a month ago. Painful and annoying! I toughed it out for a week, then gave up knitting. Still wasn't better, so I bought a brace. That's when I finally started to heal.

For the past 3 weeks I haven't knit a stitch - sad! Since my hand hasn't hurt for about a week, though, today I gave knitting a "go" again. 

The project: a bright green sock from my WIP pile. I started this sock months (maybe years? ;)) ago and have only worked on it in between more interesting projects. So, I've only completed approximately 6" of the 2x2 rib cuff. It's just my "work-on-when-I-need-something" project, though, so that's fine with me. The pair will eventually get done. ;)

Project: Simple Green Socks 
Pattern: Priscilla's Dream Socks 
(See my post long ago about this pattern here.)
Yarn: Knit Pick's Stroll Tonal - "Springtime"

It's great to be knitting again (even if just a little), and enjoying the beautiful, white view from the warm indoors! 

This past year was Annette's first Christmas and I really wanted to knit her a present. I was originally thinking something she could wear, or maybe a stocking (but then I'd have to knit them for my husband and me and I wasn't sure I had that much stick-with-it ;)). Then I saw this stuffed bunny pattern by Julie Williams and about died from the cuteness. Polka-dot dress, Mary-Jane shoes, and striped tights. Love the details! Must. Knit. NOW! :) 

I dug through my stash and found just enough yarn in the right yarn weights and colors and got knitting. (Side note: After knitting it, I was amazed at how little yarn it used!) It took me a few weeks to finish it, but I was also designing/knitting the Baby Nordik Hat while I knit this, so I can't say for sure how many knitting hours that was. The knitting itself was pretty easy, but all of the seaming and stuffing made it pretty fiddly (which the designer herself warns about). All of the careful stuffing and the little details that made it fiddly (Mary-Janes, stripes, etc.), though, are what made it turn out so cute, so it's hard to complain. I LOVE the way it turned out (and so does Annette :)), but I think it'll be a while before I knit another one. Probably once it falls apart due to my teething baby. ;)

Pattern:   Knotty or Knice Socks by Chrissy Gardiner

Yarn:   Louet Gems – fingering weight – Willow

This year I knit my Grandparents coordinating gloves for their Christmas presents.  They were enjoyable to knit and very well received. 

I couldn’t find any patterns I really liked,  so I combined a couple of different patterns to get the finished product.  The cuffs are worked from stitch motifs in a couple of sock patterns and the rest of the gloves are worked from the generic glove pattern found in Ann Budd’s book “The Knitter’s Handy Book of Patterns”.

HIS:
Yarn:   Regia Silk – fingering weight
Motif from: Bayerische by Eunny Jang

HERS:
Yarn:   Debbie Bliss Rialto
Motif from: Knotty or Knice Socks by Chrissy Gardiner

Complicated patterns are fun.  No doubt about that.  I love working on an item and seeing something beautiful and timeless (i.e. time consuming  ) unfold.  For a while there all I wanted to knit was cables, lace, and bumpy textures.  After two lacy sweaters and a pair of complicated socks, though, I’ve once again come to enjoy what I call “mindless knitting”:  projects that require little thought.

The socks I’m working on right now are just that.  I was able to knit about one third of them while watching The Fellowship of the Ring.  I hardly had to look at my hands at all, I didn’t have to squint over a pattern chart, and I didn’t discover any mistakes when the movie finished!  It was glorious.    Easy projects are rewarding in their own special way.

Pattern:   Sock pattern from The Knitter’s Handy Book of Patterns, plus Priscilla’s Dream Socks pattern for the short-row heel and toe

Yarn:   Louet Gems – fingering weight – Baby Neptune

While I was browsing through the Ravelry pattern finder a couple weeks ago, I came across this beautiful sock pattern by Eunny Jang.  It looked pretty time consuming with all the cables, but I liked it so well I decided to cast on anyway. :)  Things went just fine through the ribbed cast on edge, but then I hit the cabling.  I like following charts to some extent – but wow – these were intensive charts.  I also like complicated patterns, but only if they’re memorizeable.  This wasn’t.  It’s 4 charts (14 rows each before it repeats) of different directions.  After it took me about 4 hours to get through the first repeat, I decided that no matter how beautiful it was, the pattern wasn’t for me.  I don’t have that much patience.     

So, then I was faced with the question of what to do with the intricate, 4″ ring of cabling I had completed.  Frog it?  Nope.  After spending hours pouring over the cabling charts, that was not a fun prospect.  Then it came to me: turn it into a glove.  Genious!   

I pulled out The Knitter’s Handy Book of Patterns and figured that I’d need to make a man’s size glove.  Because the cabled “wristband” was really meant to be the top edge of a sock, it would be swimming on my hand if I made it for myself.  Bummer, but I still didn’t have to take it all out! 

I’m on the second glove now and am right up to the start of the cabling.  I’m still waiting for the strength to start.   

Pattern:  Wristband – Bayerische by Eunny Jang 

               Glove – Glove pattern in The Knitter’s Handy Book of Patterns

Yarn:  Regia Silk