I’ve been working on the purple Fetchings strictly on the bus. I finished the first one and made it thru the cables on the second one last week. since I’m not working this week, they’ve kind of stalled for now.

I’ve modified the pattern a bit - partly on purpose, partly on accident. For some reason, I thought the pattern said to do four cable twists at the cuff end. after I finished the 4th one, I realized I misread it. ah, well, I wanted them longer anyway. I also added a stitch to the thumb and an extra repeat of the cables at the knuckles (the first pair were a bit short there as well.)

I had a felting party after finishing the fish this morning. surprisingly, all went well. the pumpkin didn’t bleed in the wash (just in the cold rinse after), the white for the snowman felted successfully (though it could have gone another round), and the noro for the fish came out beautifully (though the fun fur type yarn came out scraggly. hoping it looks better after it dries). apparently jeans work much better than the dead dress slacks I used last time - the pumpkin came out a lot more felted then the first one I did.

I also finished Eli’s sweater (about time!). the knit fabric was a bit thick for the snaps, so things didn’t line up 100% the way I wanted them to, but it’s done, and it still looks good, and I’m happy with it. (my thumb, not so happy. it got in the way of the hammer while adding the snaps a couple times).

I also finished a washcloth (well, the ends still need weaving in, but the knittings all done). it’s the Dec 2005 midmonth one from the Monthly Dishcloth KAL group. I just joined last month and saw it in the archives and decided to knit it up.

I’m off to plan the travel knitting - we’re heading out of town tomorrow night and coming home Sunday night. hopefully that’ll give me lots of knitting time.

hope everyone has a happy (and safe, if you’re travelling) thanksgiving weekend!

woke up this morning to snow all over the ground. somehow, I managed to miss it the rest of the weekend (Friday it was snow-free by me, both at home and at work.) guess it’s fitting that I’m making a pair of Fetching for myself (I started them on the bus this morning - I managed to get the first two cables twisted.) I’m using the purple DB Cashmerino that’s in my stash gifted to me back during SP4.

in other knitting news, I finished the knitting for dh’s pumpkin. I ran out of the kool-aid dyed orange, so had to sub in some Lion Brand wool for the last 5 rows. hopefully all will go well in the felting.

the Karp is undergoing surgery - I knit a bottom fin on, only to realize I had worked it incorrectly (I misread and put it going front to back. apparently it was supposed to go side to side), so I got smart and picked out the beginning. so I have an intact fin that needs to be sewn back onto the fish in the correct orientation. once our friend the Karp is washer-ready, much felting will commence.

I finally found a project to use the new KnitPicks option needle I bought for testing purposes (size 8 tips & 40″ cord) - the mittens. I found an old mitten book at the library (appropriately called The Mitten Book) and found a pattern I liked. so I pulled out the leftovers from last year’s hats and got to knitting. and it’s quite cute. and I like the needles (I’m magic looping. ah, so nice with the long cord!). the only problem I’m having is when pulling the first stitch on each side, the cord is so thin I pull too much. which makes it do funky things on the sides (especially when the knitting is stranded). I haven’t decided which of the girls will get this pair - depends on who they fit, I think! anywho, I’m almost done with the first mitten. and I think I want the complete Options set at some point.

the contest winner will be announced later this week. I haven’t had a chance to start the judging yet.

well, I finished the knitting on the snowman on Saturday. I want to make more, but I want to be sure the white yarn will felt (I’ve read that some white’s don’t felt so well) before I start anymore.

Now for the request: I’d like to ‘dress’ these snowmen. If you have odds & ends of feltable sport weight yarns you don’t have plans for, would you like to send them my way? I can send you stitch markers or some other small something if you’d like.

Here’s some pics of these little guys from various LYS sites if you want to see what I’m going for: at the Yarnery, at Coldwater Collaborative, at Amazing Threads

so, since the snowmen are on hold, I’ve started another knitty pumpkin - dh has been non-stop with pumpkin requests the past week or so (I think he’s realizing the requested socks will be a while). once I get that done as well as putting the fins on the fish, we’ll have a little felting party.

like so many others, I’ve joined the Knit Mitt Kit Swap. so, here’s my answers for that.

Are you allergic to any fibers?
nope

What are your favorite colors?
purples, blues, greens, neutrals. yellow & orange are acceptable as accent colors (like if it’s a multicolored yarn), but I don’t see myself making solid mittens from those colors.

Are you a new mitt knitter? How long have you been knitting mittens?
I made a pair of fingerless gloves shortly after I started knitting (about 2 years ago). Proper mittens I started knitting this past July. Haven’t tried gloves yet, but plan to soon.

Do you prefer solid or multicolored yarn?
depends on the stitch pattern I’ll be using - some look kinda meh with multicolored yarns. I like the subtle color variations like Malabrigo has

What fibers do you prefer in mitten yarn?
anything natural and warm.

Where do you usually knit mittens?
at home, on the bus commute to work. sometimes in the car.

How do you usually carry/store small projects?
Yarn (and project) goes into a ziplock, that bag goes into the tote I take with me to work.

What are your favorite mitten patterns?
I’ve been using the pattern from Ann Budd’s Handy Book… didn’t like the way the tops came out, so I’m planning to modify it with a pattern from Family Circle Easy knitting from last year.

What are your favorite mitten knitting techniques?
there’s various techniques?

What new techniques would you like to try?
still wanting to try fair isle/stranded color. also want to try knitting two at once (like the 2 socks/2 circs or magic loop).

What are your favorite needles for knitting mittens?
bamboo dpns, I’d guess.

What are some of your favorite yarns?
alpaca, merino, cashmere. I felt some of that Buffalo Gold at the LYS - that felt quite nice too!

What yarn do you totally covet?
Cherry Tree Hill, Lorna’s, Socks that Rock, any handpainted, really. Malabrigo & Manos rank up there too.

Any pattern you would love to make if money and time were no object?
I don’t know - I haven’t scoured the mitten patterns to much yet. as long as it has something to keep my occupied (cables, fair isle, anything not plain), I’m happy.

Favorite kind of needles (brand, materials, straights or circs, etc)?
dpns or circs. I like short needles (I have some Addi & Brittany? short dpns that are great - I love short needles)

If you were a specific kind of yarn, which brand and kind of yarn would you be?
no idea.

Do you have a favorite candy or mail-able snack?
Ferroro Rochez (sp?) - those hazlenut chocolates. mmmm. yum.

What’s your favorite animal?
lions/cats

Would you prefer super warm mittens or something more like fingerless mitts?
for myself, probably proper warm mittens (I am in Minnesota, afterall!)

If you were a color what color would you be?
not sure. if we go with ‘you are what you buy’, I’d be heading into the orangey brown spectrum.

What is your most inspiring image, flower, or object in nature?
I love thunderstorms, so I’d say lightning against a really dark sky.

Do you have a wishlist?
yeah, somewhere on Amazon. not sure how up-to-date it is.

ok, so I’ve been knitting.
* the Kureyon Karp is temporarily off the needles. the body is done - I need to add fins and such before it goes thru the wash for felting

* did I mention I finally wove in the ends on Amelia’s birthday socks? Happy Socktoberfest!

‘front’ and ‘back’ views of the socks can be seen in the gallery

* I also finally wove in the ends on Melanie’s mittens (yeah, the ones I started on the hottest day of the summer back in July that got me out of my summer non-knitting funk.) (since this is a gift, you’ll have to just imagine what they actually look like. if you’ve seen past gifts I’ve knit for her, it shouldn’t be too difficult. ;) )

* I received a package from my Spooky SP over at the knittyboard:

the non-knitting loot. I wore the socks to work on the 31st. =]

the knitting loot. Burly Spun from Brown Sheep Co and 4 skeins Berroco Softwist. and some stitch markers.

THANK YOU SPOOKY SP!

what else?
oh, today I cast on a snowman (I didn’t want to try to do fish fins on the bus - no elbow room, ya know?). I’m almost done with the first ‘ball’ - it’s knitting up quite fast!

Amelia’s mittens are progressing slowly. I have an idea for Lilin’s, just need to do a gauge swatch. Still need to think about dad’s and the BIL’s. and something for dh - he wants socks. but I’m not sure that’ll happen by the holidays. we’ll try.

Now for the contest (which was intended to celebrate my blogiversary/purliversary last month):

Leave me a caption in the comments here by Nov 11th. Prizes will include stitch markers and some lovely parting gifts from my knitting book/yarn stash. ETA: I’m thowing some Muench Touch Me into the prize pot. I’m finally coming to terms with the fact that it won’t be used by me.