All Gobbled Up!

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving! Many thanks to Colleen the Subway Knitter
for posting about this pattern on her blog. She gives the link to the free pattern, but just in case, it's here. There are other fun animal, seasonal, etc. knitted cloth patterns there too!

I added 3 rounds of single crochet to firm up the edges and stuck a loop on the corner so I can hang this in the kitchen. Oh, and this took less than one skein of Sugar n' Cream...and about 1 and 1/2 hours to knit while watching the James Bond Marathon on TV. Sean Connery is definitely my fave 007!


Okay, this is totally lace with training wheels (worsted weight yarn with size 10 needles), but I'm trying Fiber Trends Leaf Lace Shawl.

I recall making a rectangular scarf with the same leaf motif...free pattern here.

long time no blog...

Sorry I've been a bad blogger lately... seems a tough rehearsal schedule coupled with the stomach flu make for unproductive knitting...

Anyway, here's the finished My So-Called Scarf

I blocked it and added two rows of single crochet around the edges to help the funkiness I encountered with this pattern; namely the diagonal slant of the rows, and the loose cast-on and cast-off edges. Also, because of the color differences, I had to alternate skeins every 2 rows (I HATE doing that), which meant the tensions of both lengthwise edges were not exactly the same (also fixed by the crochet edge).

I do like how the pattern looks, and it's a pretty long scarf; worth it for just 2 skeins of Manos! Once I got the rhythm of the stitch pattern, it was a fast knit. Besides, the bf likes it. Yeay!

Bee is for Beata!

I had a very cool skein of yarn from Insubordiknit that I had been stashing for quite some while. It's a self striping waspy colored yarn with little bumble bees made of ribbon spun into it. My friend Beata (Tango cellist extraordinaire visiting from Sweden), saw the yarn and loved it, so we decided she should have it as a scarf.
Umm...the pink felt heart is an address tag, because the last scarf I made her unfortunately ran away...

I really wanted to make some mittens for me, but the bf wanted a new scarf, so I'm trying the My So-Called Scarf. Colorway Manos del Uruguay Jungle Multi.

There are three things that are bothering me with this pattern:
1) It slants upwards on the left
2) No matter how tightly I cast on, the nature of the stitch pattern draws it in so that the cast on row flares out.
3) the sides look "rustic"

I've studied pics of this scarf on other blogs, and have seen those same problems. I'm hoping that blocking and a crochetted edge will cure it of its ills, so we'll see. I do agree that the stitch pattern shows off the Manos well. My skeins looked too different, so I had to alternate between rows, which I really hate having to do, but if the bf likes it, it's worth it. Right? Right?

Mittens for M & H

Just in time for the chilly weather...
The pink ones are for "M", aged 7, and her younger brother, "H", aged 4.

The pattern is based loosely on the bug mittens in the Morehouse Merino book. They have pictures in the book for several variations of really cute bug patterns, but note: they don't give you step-by-step instructions on how to recreate them! (You get a basic mitten pattern, and then it's up to you to use different stitch patterns and color combos).

Next OTN (hopefully): Thrummed Mittens (Got the kit in "Hot Rod" at Spunky Eclectic)