I went and cast on two new projects, along with digging up all of the WIPs.

Oh dear.

From left to right, top to bottom: The Noro Striped Scarf some people might remember from my post back in December, a slouchy hat using Rowan Lima,* the wolf mitten from the same post as the scarf, half a sock foot, most of a striped shawl, the beginnings of a doll, and, of course, The Sweater. Which is up to 19 hours and 15 minutes, by the way.

I’m hoping to turn all of these into a parade of finished objects by June, as mad as that sounds.

*This kind of kicked off the spree – started the hat, noticed it was the same color as the sweater, went yarn hunting, found a couple of WIPs and the doll yarn.

You’re sitting there, in class, at home, in the car (shame on you) reading this blog. And I bet you’re doing it via an app.

Apps have come into our world and we wouldn’t know what to do without them if they disappear.

iTunes, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Angry Birds, and news source. All apps I use every day. There has to be like a million apps, for sure.

Mashable.com has been releasing an article every week that gives you a list of the weeks newest, must have apps. This week is Use Your Handwriting GOLD, which lets you take notes on your iPhone, and Disney launched an app called Mittens.

There are millions of apps that have been created to help smartphone users play, learn, socialize, and keep up on current events. Mashable.com did a good job of giving me a list of this weeks newest because without it, I wouldn’t have known these newest apps even existed!

I’m now the proud player of Mittens. It’s based on physics. I need help with physics. Thanks Disney.

I finally completed them, they are really stunning.  As you can imagine, there were quite a number of ends to weave in, I spent one entire SnB night just weaving them in.  I used the needle for the smaller size, so they do not fit my hands.  These are being gifted shortly. There might be enough yarn left to knit another pair…

Pattern: Latvian Fingerless Mitts
Pattern Source: Beth Brown Reinsel
Yarn: Brown Sheep Nature Spun Sport, 5 colors
Needles: US 4
Date Started: 3/9/13
Date Finished: 3/25/13
Finished Dimensions: Women’s small/medium

a little bit of childish fun…not us

I have just been up to the Kaffe Fassett exhibition at the London Fashion and Textile Museum and had ‘a grand day out’. Several friends and I gathered on a bitterly cold morning and alighted a sequence of buses where we chatted gaily ( and were told off by a youngish fellow passenger on the first bus as, apparently, so she said, it was ‘public transport’, the implication being we should sit on our seats without speaking, wearing stony faces and that way we would not annoy anyone..or her ) until we reached London….and no.. we did not comply and continued with our middle-aged talk of credit cards, spinning and the close death of a terminally ill friend of one of us until we alighted in the capital.

The exhibition was great fun, full of colour, geometrics, ideas and inspiration, do go if you get a chance.

The spinning on the Grand Canyon Project has continued, I only have two more colours to spin and ply. A start has been made on thinking up a design for the basic sock, and some knitting has taken place.

Another addition to the ‘flock’ of Starling inspired mittens..note that lovely hubby of mine has now made a stand for the mitten blockers.

Mittens must traverse the dangerous environment to collect milk bottles for his kitten crush, while collecting diamonds and avoiding the dangers an urban jungle can bring. With over 75 puzzles to complete, players will jump, tap and swipe their way through slingshots made from antennae and bouncy telephone wires.

Mittens will have his work cut out for him as angry chefs and mean deckhands, are looking to stop Mittens quest for love. Offering players three level packs to conquer including Milktown, Balloonland and Mouse Cave, players will need their best skills to collect the 3 diamonds on offer throughout each level.

Mittens is available for iPhone and iPod Touch for AUD $0.99 / NZD $1.29, or iPad for AUD $2.99 / NZD $3.70.

Jamie Briggs manages Analog Addiction and you can like them on Facebook, follow his daily life on Twitter @JamieAA and his videos on YouTube.

80 DENIER FULLER FIGURE FOOTLESS TIGHTS

BLACK

GREAT STAPLE FOR ANY GIRLS CLOSET

GOOD QUALITY PRODUCT

VERY VERSATILE, YOU CAN WEAR THESE WITH ANYTHING!

XL FITS 16-18

XXL FITS 20-26

XXXL FITS 28-32

93% NYLON, 7%ELASTANE

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/80-Fuller-Figure-plus-Size-Footless-Tights-L-XL-XXL-/190740543066?pt=UK_Hosiery_Socks&var=&hash=item721e9d0a93

How’s that for a Dickensian sentence?

My budget was limited in Ireland, but I still managed to buy yarn. That’s dedication, obsession, and an artist’s prioritization for you. Aka, the artist’s question to herself: “do I want to satisfy the cravings of my artistic spirit or the cravings of my stomach?”

Then she sits on a street corner during her spare time holding a tattered cardboard sign that says: “will impersonate PIXAR characters for food.”

I will impersonate Aardman animation characters as well. I do a pretty good Babs the knitting chicken, a decent LaFrog, but my Grommit impersonation is the best! You have to blink just right.

One little shop that gripped my fancy was a place called O’Maille’s that sold shelves upon shelves of skeins of Donegal Tweed yarn, and shelves upon shelves of hats and scarves and headbands and tea cozies and tiny baby boots:

Donegal Tweed

Tea always tastes better when it’s cozy!

The woman who ran the shop showed me around a bit, and I bought some of the Donegal Tweed. As soon as I got home to my needles, I began to knit a pair of mitts. And, yes, in the thumb gusset, holding the stitches in place, that is indeed a twig that I snapped off a nearby bush. I only brought one pair of needles with me to Austria…

In the next couple of days I will be sharing more makeshift knitting tools…(Just in case I need to arrest your attention with suspense at this point).

Knit on!

-Hannah

Léttlopi
Nld 3,5 mm

On the Needles 01-04-13

Looks like it’s going to be a busy week ahead for me! Various projects on the go in various stages of completion. First up for me to finish are these adorable little mittens. They’re for a child aged 4-6 but other sizes are as always available. All these little cuties need are some adorable little flowers to top them off. These should be available in the Etsy shop later on today!

Purple Kids Mittens Age 4-6

Next on the “To Do List” for this week are these lovely soft convertible mitts. One is completed and being blocked as I type and I’ll be casting on the second mitt as soon as the little purple ones are finished. These should be available in the shop by the end of the week all things going to plan!

Convertible Mitt’s in Progress

This Wave Pattern Cowl is my “On the Go” project that lives in my handbag and gets pulled out whenever I’m out and about and get chance to sneak in a row or two of knitting. It’s been on the needles for a while now so I’ll either have to get out more or just finish it off at home! This will also hopefully be my first published pattern so once I have that up online I’ll be sure to post the links here!

Wave Pattern Cowl

And last but certainly not least are a hat and scarf pattern I’m working on for a customer. Really looking forward to getting the needles out on this one and doing up a few sample swatches. She has some lovely ideas of what she wants so am very excited about putting my ideas together with hers and seeing the finished project! It’s what I love most about knitting design, you can never be 100% sure what your finished project is going to look like until you’ve actually finished it. I’ll definitely be keeping you up to date with this as it unfolds!

New Ideas in the Making

As well as all this I have college projects to get done, a house to tidy, a four year old to entertain and enjoy my last bit of holiday time before getting back to the grindstone next week! May be a good idea for me to get a move on then!

A

He picked charcoal grey. If you know anything about me, it’s that I’ll never knit with grey if I can help it. So he conceded that I could put in an acid green stripe, “if you want”. I started these mitts on the airplane ride home and finished up a few days later. I have to admit that I’m pretty proud of the clever shaping where the palm meets the thumb gusset.

Jake’s wife Stacy took the photos of him wearing the mitts. That’s another rule of knitted gift-wear. I have to get a photo of the recipient wearing the item. I have a blog to maintain, after all.

Here’s a picture of a mitt on me before I sent it. I think it shows a more accurate idea of the colors used. I will also grudgingly admit that I enjoyed making something grey.

For once, knitters, I made a project without Koigu. I’ll admit, though, that I thought is WAS Koigu when I picked it up and have no idea what it actually is. WAIT…The chartreuse IS a scrap of Koigu that has been in my stash for years, so no…I lied. Stacy bought the grey at a charming and friendly yarn shop in Bethesda, MD.

I’m currently working on a pair for Stacy, too, though she bought something colorful and RED and gorgeous. I can’t wait to show you once they’re finished!

Click here for the pattern from Ravelry. 

Up next I plan to knit my first slouchy beret and a beanie hat for my brother. Super excited! I need to order more yarn!

1. Why do all the dwarves look like dwarves, except for two who look like some sort of perfume models?  Can you find them?
2. Why did the dwarves randomly sing two big song and dance numbers at the beginning of the movie, then NEVER SING AGAIN?  I’m not saying I want the Hobbit to be a musical, but two musical numbers out of nowhere is a little weird.
3. Why is Frodo in the beginning?  Dumb.  No point in him being there.
4. Why is it a trilogy that will end up lasting more than 9 hours?  That’s too much.  It’s not a long book.

But one thing I did notice (because I’m a weirdo who likes knitting way too much), is that many of the characters wear these fantastic knitted fingerless mitts:

Gorgeous!  Warm!  Practical!  Exactly what you want to wear when going on an adventure.  Want some for yourself?  Try these patterns:

Commuter Fingerless Mitts by Stephanie Sun

Camp Out Fingerless Mittens by tante ehm

Now, I don’t want or need anyone thinking I’m a boozer just because I’m hungover. Oh no no no. Just for the record, last night I only had two glasses of wine and a shot of bourbon (oh, why do I ever let my cousin talk me into shots?) to celebrate one of my fabulous cousin’s 30th birthday! Whaaaaat! It’s crazy.

In addition to celebrating at Le Petit Bar in Peterborough (which is wonderful, I might add), Kyle and I spent part of the afternoon wandering the downtown area where we bought a copious amount of cheese and some cranberry, port and pecan preserve for my mum’s Easter dinner (no, we don’t do ham, thank lanta. Every holiday in our house is a turkey holiday! Which means that cranberry sauce is a must!) and I bought the most delicious yarn at Needles in the Hay where the people are lovely and compliment your umbrella flats.

Now, to the yarn. The delicious yarn is Diamond Yarn Luxury Collection Mulberry & Merino in {I think} Tawny judging by the website’s colour cards. Really the colour is a deep dusty rose; it’s gorgeous. Anyways, it was totally a whim item after squeezing it a couple times in the store. Believe me when I say, if you ever give that yarn a squish, any thoughts of cotton for spring will fly out of your head. Or at least that’s what happened to me. I knew I wanted some spring-coloured yarn in a spring appropriate weight and fibre and…..well….I got the spring-appropriate colour at least. Although I figure I will need as many hats as I can knit while in Calgary.

Anyone who says there are too many knit hats is WRONG! Same with mittens. Same with scarves. Any colder weather accessories, you can never have enough of. For example, I’ve been carrying around my heavier mittens in my purse for the last couple weeks and wearing my lighter ones or fingerless mitts and, guess what, the heavier mittens have come in handy! Ask Kyle, he wore them Thursday night when it got too cold. Boom.

Back to the hat: I finished it Monday while watching Easter Parade {a mandatory for any Easter holiday} and am in love. I used the pattern Spring Beret by Natalie Larson. It’s an incredibly lovely and easy pattern. I had the lace pattern memorized pretty darn quickly. I went with the “active” version of the hat, which I wish I had gone for the “lounger” as I used smaller needles than recommended and the hat is now more tight-fitting than beret-ish. I’m thinking of blocking it over a plate but I’m also slightly afraid to, just in case. I would definitely love to make this hat again with cotton and go for a lounger version. But still, I have more Mulberry & Merino yarn than I thought I would and am thinking some mitts are in order. Or a kerchief. Just something to have that deliciousness next to my skin. Yum.

You can peruse them on ravelry: Cthulhu Mittens by Diana Stafford

I’ve gotten this far.

This is not the first time I’ve done stranded knitting, but it is a bit more slow-going due to my gauge.  I’m knitting with worsted weight on 2s.  YES, 2s.  Because I want these to be the densest, hardiest mittens that will last me an eternity.  I want them to be able to stand up on their own and do party tricks.  So, it’s taking a while.   Yarns I’m using:  Paton’s Classic Wool in black, and Lion Brand Amazing in Rainforest (a perfect moldy green) for the cthulhu chart.  I’m going to be so ready for next winter.  Unless this chart suddenly becomes non-Euclidean… then I’m screwed.

Me standing in front of the Arc de Triomphe and the traffic circle from Hell. (Also wearing my embarrassingly pink mittens).