11 posts tagged “winter”
I actually finished this six weeks ago, but never posted! I'm pretty proud of this one...I picked my favorite stitch pattern, planned my stripes, figured out how to make ruffles and managed to create a vertical keyhole without screwing up my pattern that did not lend itself well to a keyhole. All with great success!
I didn't intend for only the pink bands at the end..it was going to stripe with the others (alternating 5 and 10 rows with three colors - would have been neat) but the pink didn't look as great with my coat as I thought. Blah. Still, I like the stripes.
I can't wait to wear this all winter long! I've worn it once so far and it is snuggly.
Yarns: Rowan Purelife Wool in Welsh Black (brown) and Steel Suffolk (grey), accented with Rowan chunky Scottish tweed (rose). Knit for Potions class, September '09: a warm up potion.
Two completed items in one week!! Amazing. This is a Not-So-Elizabethtown Hat in Three Irish Girls Galenas, Cinnamon Spice colorway.
The pattern is great - super easy. What slowed me down was that fourth round of cables. I ended up using the cabling without a needle method, except, um, I used a needle. ;) Instead of sliding two stitches to a needle, holding to the back, knitting the third stitch, knitting the two from the cable needle and then purling the last stitch, I slipped two stitches to the other needle, slid the third needle to another needle that I held in front, slipped the two back and then slipped the one back, knit the three and then purled the last. The slipping and knitting off just one needle did speed things up and made it a lot less fiddly.
I think it looks cute on. It matches my winter coat exactly, which is nearly impossible.
I goofed at the end, though. I shouldn't have done an extra decrease row, which I think caused some of the puckering, and I got carried away and bound off instead of running yarn through the stitches and scrunching them together. It doesn't look bad, though, and has a bit of a star effect. I don't mind it.
To complete my winter set, next will be a keyhole scarf in grey, brown and pink stripes to complement the reds, and possibly mittens in the above colors with perhaps some of the leftover red. We'll see.
The moon was absolutely gorgeous, especially with all the snow framing it. It was a quiet, still night, peaceful but almost foreboding. It was a night when vampires could have gone walking or werewolves might have come alive and it would have fit the mood.
(This, btw, took many, many attempts to make it work, to the point of thinking it never would. In the end...basic flash. Go figure.)
Three Irish Girls Peregrine Merino in Siofra.
I love it and am annoyed with it by turns. The colors are gorgeous and pooled perfectly and, the pattern is good. But I picked it because none of the finished projects on Ravelry had pointy tops and what does mine have? Pointy tops! Argh. I tried to fix it, and while it did solve a lot of aesthetic issues, the point never went away.
Also, it's much too large. I do have small hands, I guess. The thumb is a great length, but the rest of it - there's about half an inch at the top, and I can actually bend my fingers inside it without the mitten moving. Oops.
But hey, that thumb is gorgeous. Look at the perfect striping!
Three Irish Girls riddermark merino in Moonrise (August Yarn Club), size 11 needles, embroidered with Lion WoolEase white sparkle.
I love winter. I absolutely love it, from the shades of blue to the snow on the ground. (Less the latter when I have to drive in it, but still.) When I saw this colorway for the Stash Menagerie August offering, I thought it was the most me color I'd ever seen. I saw it and thought "winter!" So I knit up a stockinette rectangle, embroidered snowflakes on it, sewed it up and stuffed it. It's not what I had pictured - I ran out of yarn about where I had pictured the size of the front panel - but it is absolutely perfect to prop up under my neck while reading in bed. I'm astounded by how perfectly it worked out, actually.
Things I would have done differently: redone some of the snowflakes. Stitched up the bottom of the pillow first and stuffed through one of the shorter sides. Stuffed it more fully.
I'm considering breaking the end thread and stuffing more in there. It's nearly perfect, but getting a crater in the middle where my head usually is. I'm just worried that would break it!
I am in love with yarn from Three Irish Girls. I bought two skeins of their Peregine Merino in Siofra colorway awhile back, with the intention of doing some winter gear knitting. I neglected to pay much attention to the fact that these colors only match my black fall pea coat and the yarn is more of a winter weight.
Still, I love the yarn and the colors and didn't let that stop me from knitting. I cast on for these cute mittens on September 28, as stress relief from my grad school proficiency exams. They are for no one in particular at the moment - I think whoever first compliments them will get them!
I'm a bit further along now - I've completed the thumb gusset and am nearly to the decrease rounds. I'm thinking I might have the pair done by the time I finish my exams on the 13th. Just in time to start my River Tam. :)
I've been meh on winter this year. Not excited, not annoyed. But tonight...this is my favorite kind of snow. It's falling lightly but accumulating quickly, making the air just sparkle. Everything is greys and browns with golden lights shining from windows and cars and streetlights. It's magical. Get a stretch of time without cars and you could be back 100 years ago. This is why I love winter.
The snow has stopped for now, but it is still so pretty!
Snow! On October 12! And it's accumulating!
