Wheee!

Diane, who is neither previously known to me nor related to me, knitted mitts for her SiL, Cathie. Now, this isn't unusual; people I don't know make mitts for other people all the time. What makes *this* particularly special to me is that she made them using My First Published Pattern, Simple Top-Down Mitts. And she got mitts out of them! (Yes, I realize that's the whole point of a pattern, but still. It seems like Magic right now.) Wheeeee!!!

Diane's project page is here [Ravelry link]. And she very sweetly allowed me to share her photo of her completed mitts:


Diane's Mitt, modeled by Cathie
Thanks for letting me know, Diane!! I'm all-to-pieces excited about this!!

ALSO: Okay, hitting everywhere with this one: Threadworks, purveyor of really lovely (!!!) threads for needlework, has started an online magazine.

IT IS REALLY, REALLY PRETTY!!!! 50 pages of full-color pretty. Patterns. Book reviews. Threads. Stitch instructions. Pretty.

All one has to do to get it is to sign up through the blog, http://threadworx.typepad.com/. Yep, you give your name and e-mail - something I tend not to do, but a Trusted Thread Friend raved about it, so I did (yesterday) and had the e-mail with the links to this lovely magazine - and my Joined-Before-March special gift - waiting for me.

May I just say? WOW.

And you don't have to print it out even, thus saving Trees and Postage and all that. But I totally printed mine, anyway, and will be getting a pretty little binder for it. Magazine ♥ Love!!

Pattern - Super Simple Bedsocks

Pattern - Super Simple Bedsocks

Yarn - Lion Brand Hometown USA yarn (super-bulky, suggested gauge - Knit: 9 stitches x 12 rows = 4" (10 cm) on size 13 (9mm) needles). Acrylic (and very machine-washable) yarn made in the USA, and named after appropriate US cities - "Cleveland Brown" and "Cincinnati Red" really were gimmes. These use "Syracuse Orange", "Green Bay" and "Pittsburgh Yellow".

Needles - I used size 10, as I tend to knit very loosely, and wanted this to be a nice, dense fabric. Your mileage may vary.

So, I finished my bedsocks, as I said. They were pretty easy, and the secret to that is in the construction.

THE SECRET
First, you make two k1p1 things over your-foot-is-this-wide stitches, with slipped edges. (The slipped edge makes it easy to hide color changes, and makes construction easier, IMHO.) Mine would up being about 40" long, since I like tall socks. Mine are made from Lion Brand's "Hometown USA" yarn, since "machine washable" is mandatory for bedsocks in my house, and this is a great, soft, super-bulky yarn that knits up quick. But the trick? You can use ANY YARN with ANY PATTERN (lace not recommended, unless you're going for pretty over warm) as long as you wind up with two rectagles of the proper width and length. Not only that - you don't even have to knit them. You can do the same thing with, say, crochet rectagles, or quilted ones - how's that for "make it your way"?


The pretty side


The not-so-pretty-side
See, you want to fold your bedsock-to-be roughly in half, but not exactly. You'll be making three seams from the cuff down, like this:


The secret
I just crochet 'em together, from the cuff down, RIGHT SIDES FACING, a stitch through the two loops, then a stitch with the resulting loop and the last stitch, then keep going.



From the top of the calf down, work to the midpoint of where the eventual wearer's ankle should be, then make the heel seam. I just chain the yarn back to the main seam to continue.


Then, finish from ankle to toe.


There, you have an inside-out sock.


Now, as a design choice, the crocheted seam is actually kind of pretty, and you may want it on the outside of your sock, instead.


Either way, weave in all your ends, and turn sock right-side-out. Ta-dah!! Toasty warm bedsock in a matter of hours (or less, if you knit fast!).


Now, if, like me, you've got people in your house that like quieter colors, that's also an option (this pair was made in Lion Brand Jiffy Yarn):


Taller people require longer, wider flat pieces
to make up their socks.
This could've been a scarf.


They sure like them, though!

Haekelbeutel finished!

This morning's headache: getting the bloody link for the Simple Top-Down Mitts to work over on Ravelry. Gaaaaah! I swear, I put in the same thing three times before it finally took. Gaaaaaah!! Anyway, all fixed now (or at least it works as of two minutes ago; let's hope it keeps working).

Oh, great. Now flickr won't upload my pictures of my finished Haekelbeutel. Gah. The internets gotz fleaz 2day...

Which reminds me: I did, in fact, finish something over the weekend, which is 1/4 of what I need to keep my "4 projects off the list per month" going. "Inga's Haekelbeutel by Inga Joana Mertens", done in a solid color, just to be different:


First, bits get crocheted together,
through the back loops so there's
a nice ridge between squares.

Then, handles.

Shot of finished bag that's actually a shot of my lovely Tiffany-style back door.

Actual photo of finished project.
Conveniently, it's holding more yarn.

Yay! Back to just 57 UFOs!!

Amanda Hat!!

Monday Report

Felt pretty awful, and couldn't move much. Unlike last week, however, I could move both arms at once without triggering nausea, so I knitted. During the Much Running Around on Saturday, I'd gotten yarn to make my Amanda Hat. During the games on Sunday, I managed to start *and finish* a hat. It was, unfortunately, too big.

Monday, my mom manage to unpick the intricate and very, VERY secure knotwork that held together the crown of the hat, and I brought the stitching back to the top of the garter stitch rows. I did a couple more rows of garter stitch (to match the bottom)... and viola! I had an Amanda Neckwarmer!!
[KnitStuff/AmandaHat1.jpg]
The Amanda Hat
[KnitStuff/AmandaHat1a.jpg]
Me wearing same

[KnitStuff/AmandaHatPlus1c.jpg]

[KnitStuff/AmandaHatPlus1.jpg]

[KnitStuff/AmandaHatPlus1a.jpg]

Matching Neck Warmer!!
[KnitStuff/AmandahatPlus1-Final.jpg]
Amanda Hat and Amanda Neck Warmer
I still wanted the hat, though, so, given my gauge with Bulky Yarn on the first "hat", I cut the cast-on stitches to 63, and killed one repeat everywhere but the middle garter stitch rows. The result: lovely hat that fits perfectly!! (Plus, I'm halfway done with a matching scarf, too!)

...it's BACON!!

Firstly, Knitted Bacon Hat! Oh, the things that the Fry-Up Knitalong is responsible for. (Then again, I totally want a knitted or crocheted bacon wrap.) I mean, THIS IS COOL.

[Crochet/baconwrap2.jpg]
[Crochet/baconwrap1.jpg]
images (c)Monster Crochet.com
Pattern available for sale here.
Water, water everywhere... sort of.
I forgot about the cold.
When you start actually hydrating yourself, after you haven't done so properly for, say, a year and a half, you will spend the first half of the first day absolutely, positively FROZEN. Not that you're actually cold, of course. You body just suddenly has more fluid rushing through it than it's used to heating up to a comfortable level. (Especially if, like me, you forgot about The Cold, and put extra ice in your sugar-free decaf 9-parts water to 1-part cran-grape bottle.) By three o'clock, The Cold finally went away, my kidneys had remembered what they're supposed to do with 'extra' water, and I'm feeling much better, but for the exhaustion. I *have* had caffiene today, since I actually wanted to function and have a job tomorrow (I'm not a complete idiot unless I'm improperly caffinated cold-turkey. As a complete idiot, the brain/mouth filter is just GONE... and that's not a good thing in my line of work. This is why I decaffinate gradually over a two-week period. Yes, this is the voice of experience.)

[NeatoStuff/WakeUpHappyBus.jpg]
Saw this on the way in to work: the panel on the side of the bus (an ad for Burger King) says "Wake Up Happy". A large cup full of shiny ice and sparkling Dr. Pepper is depicted.
They know me so well.

Pattern Update

Just a quick note: There's a *much* better edit of the Simple Top-Down Mitts up now, thanks to L. Yaaay, spontaneous editors!!

Pattern: Simple Top-Down Mitts

Fun Fact I've Noticed: Every "Finished Project" I've got listed over on Ravelry is some shade of orange. (Except for the mitts below, of course.) There isn't anything left in the queue-of-things-to-finish that's orange. This may be bad news for my attempt to finish three more things in the next two weeks.

If I relax, and give myself time to eat knit before work, and eat at lunch, and I can sit down during my train ride home, and I watch one hour of TV in the evening, I can get a repeat of LotVS done in a day. This means, theoretically, I could have the "body" done in a week. I may go for it. (I may also be distracted by just about anything that catches my eye.)

I've presently got four repeats done - this means 6.5 to go. Oh, did I mention I probably don't have enough yarn to do the edging? At least probably not all of it. Then again, I might. I have a little ball of yarn in a cup (Cup-o-Shawl)... its other skein still has its label. And it's somewhere that I've seen it recently. Which, given that I was diving for surplus yarn Tuesday night, doesn't narrow it down much. And I'm supposed to be knitting black mitts, but that probably won't stop me. I seem to do much better knitting at something when I'm not supposed to be working on it.

SotS II: The swatch pattern is up! "Earth Tones" are called for... and I saw Farn Wollmeise. I totally want some. Wendy is using some deep-blues for the shawl model she's knitting... the richness of the colors is amazing. No, I don't konw if I can actually touch the stuff, which is why I'm not just coughing up 26 Euros the second I see some available. *sigh*

Now, the promised Mitt Photos:

[KnitStuff/MittsFinal1b.jpg] Knitting from both ends of the ball taken to extremes.

[KnitStuff/MittsFinal1a.jpg] See the dark red line? That's all the yarn that was left between the ends of the ball!!

[KnitStuff/MittsFinal1c.jpg]
But they came out nicely, I think.
V. simple pattern, too.

PATTERN, a CraftyGryphon Original^TM:
Really Simple Top-Down Mitts
Notes: One skein Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock Yarn should make four mitts for small hands. My palm is 3.25" wide; gauge in pattern is roughly 20st per 3.25" the way I knit. Adjust size as needed, depending on how you knit. Sizing up or down involves math, so I'll leave that to you. Needles used: Size 3 DPNs and size 1 DPNs.

1. On size three DPNs, using long-tail method, cast on 40 stitches (This is the top of the palm, the bit of the mitt nearest the tips of your fingers).
2. Join, being careful not to twist stitches
3. Place marker to indicate start of row (on little finger side of mitt). Slip marker on all rounds. Make ribbing, k2-p2, for 24 rows. Set aside. (24 rows)
4. From other end of ball of yarn, using long-tail method, cast on 20 stitches using size 1 needles.
5. Join, being careful not to twist stitches.
6. Make ribbing, k1-p1, for 16 rows. This is the thumb. Cut long (at least 6") tail.
7. Join thumb to palm by knitting 20 palm stitches, knit 20 thumb stitches, knit remaining palm stitches on size 3 needles, [PHOTO FORTHCOMING], making certain the thumb is pointing the right way. Yeah, I know, it shouldn't be a problem, but if it's really late at night, it's possible to get confused. Trust me on this. put size 1 needles aside. (25 rows)
8. Knit 2 rounds following rib pattern - k2p2 on the "body" of the mitt, k1p1 on the thumb. (27 rows)
9. On the next round knit to the first thumb stitch, SSK, follow pattern to last thumb stitch, K2Tog, follow pattern to end of round. There are now 18 thumb stitches and 40 body stitches remaining (you have decreased the Thumb stitches by 2. (28 rows)
10. Next round and odd numbered rounds henceforth: follow rib patterns.
11. Even rounds: decrease as above at first and last thumb stitches. At the 42nd round, you will have four thumb stitches left. Re-distribute stitches on 4 needles (11 sitches per needle). You now have 44 body stitches.
12. Work body in k2-p2 rib (see how those extra four stitches just go right along in there?) to desired length. This is about an inch past the bottom of the palm if you want two pairs of small mitts out of your ball of yarn.
13. Bind off and Weave in ends. Use long tail in thumb to weave together thumb-body join snugly.

Now, I'm a pretty slow knitter, so you've still got time to knock out a couple of pairs of these for Christmas, if you need to! (and a huge Thank You to the lovely L, for editing the above!)

Happy holidays!

Yankee Swap Results

I'm now convinced that Lauren knows everything. Honest. If I have a question about anything yarn- or tech-related, she knows the answer. And those are usually the only two areas I have questions about, so that pretty much covers my world.

Speaking of yarn, which I usually am, the Sweet Life Yankee Swap was last night. There was some *great* stuff... I'd've been happy with either of the things I got (my first got stolen). What I got was:

[KnitStuff/YankeeSwap1.jpg] A gift bag, with THREE presents inside!

[KnitStuff/YankeeSwap2.jpg] Vogue 2006 Holiday Issue... which I *almost* bought, but didn't! Yay!

[KnitStuff/YankeeSwapyarnpattern-1.jpg]
Pattern: Trellis, April 2007 "Pick Up Sticks" Sock-of-the-Month Club
[KnitStuff/YankeeSwapyarnlabel.jpg]
Yarn: Zen Yarn Garden "Spring Garden"

[KnitStuff/ZenGardenYarn1.jpg]
Oooooooo, pretty!!
I would like to note that I haven't started these socks yet, despite AMAZING temptation!!

And now, something seasonal. If you wish, copy & play in you own blog! I've set it up as a table, so you should just be able to copy the questions only.

1.	Wrapping paper or gift bags?	Depends. I have cool gift bags with pictures of Knitted Flowers on them this year.
2.	Real tree or Artificial?	As artificial as possible. This year's has a music-syncrhonated light show.
3.	When do you put up the tree?	As early as possible. This year, I'm hoping it's December 16th.
4.	When do you take the tree down?	As late as possible... barring construction on the house. This year, it'll be down the 29th.
5.	Do you like egg nog?	Ik, no.
6.	What is your most favorite Christmas gift ever?	Oooooo, that's tough. I've gotten a lot of wonderful things over the years.
7.	Do you have a nativity scene?	Several. Eventually, I plan to cross-stitch one.
8.	Hardest person to buy for?	My husband.
9.	Easiest person to buy for?	My mother.
10.	Mail or email Christmas cards?	Mail!
11.	Worst Christmas gift you ever received?	Clothes, when I was little. Now, of corse, I love getting clothes.
12.	Favorite Christmas Movie?	Tie: Muppet Christmas Carol or It's a Wonderful Life.
13.	When do you start shopping for Christmas?	December 26th of the previous year.
14.	Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?	I don't think so...
15.	Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?	Cheese!
16.	Clear lights or colored on the tree?	Colored M&M lights.
17.	Favorite Christmas song?	Tis the Season from Muppet Christmas Carol
18.	Travel at Christmas or stay home?	Both.
19.	Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?	Yes. Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and Rudolph
20.	Angel on the tree top or a star?	An angel, sort of. It's Ginger Spice of the Spice Girls, dressed as an angel.
21.	Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?	Morning!
22.	Most annoying thing about this time of year?	Wham's Last Christmas
23.	Favorite ornament theme or color?	"Pop Culture" is the theme for our tree (if the lights and angel hadn't clued you in)
24.	What do you want for Christmas this year?	A floor-scrubbing robot! And one actually exists now!
25.	Who is most likely to respond to this?	Don't know - but if you do, leave a comment with the link so I can read your answers!

The Alleged Pattern for the "Harry Potter" Scarf

I've had one request for the alleged "pattern" I used to make my HPII scarf, and just in case anyone else is interested, here you go. Note: This makes a nice jacket-length scarf, a hair under six feet long. If you want your scarf ultra-long like in the movie, you'll have to add a few more repeats, and I'd suggest getting an additional skein of yarn as well.

Materials: I used Red Heart sportweight in "Cardinal" and/or "Vermillion (I'm guessing one is the name of the color in 2006, the other in 2007, since they match!), three skeins.
Gold Glitterspun, 1 ball.
Circular needles, anywhere from size 5 to 8, depending on what's comfortable for you. (I used 6's.)

Pattern: C/O 66 st in the round.
Knit 32 rows in red; 3 rows gold, 5 rows red, 3 rows gold.
Repeat six times, then, after the last set of gold rows, knit 32 rows.
Cast off.
You now have a Harry Potter tube.
Make fringe to desired length; fringe.

Lesson on fringing: It's really pretty easy.
1. Making fringe to desired length - well, I tend to wrap my yarn about 100 times around a standard Harlequin-sized romance, and cut through at one end of the book. Ooo, lots of fringe pieces!

2. I attach the "sides" of scarf together, making certain the start of a new row is on the very-thin edge of the scarf, as I attach the fringe.

3. Attaching happens by jabbing through both layers of the scarf with a crochet hook, pulling two fringe pieces at a time through by the center (so there's a loop on one side of the scarf, and dangly ends on the other), and catching the ends through the loop.

4. I also square-knot two strands of neighboring fringe once everything's in place, so there's no chance of my fringes trying to go free.

5. Should there be undesired unevenness in the fringe, trim carefully to desired length/eveness. I tend to just let it be fringey.