Knitter's Crayon Box

 

I thought I'd give you a break from Glacier (next time you see them, they'll be done) and show you something new.  Actually the yarn for something new, or most of the yarn.  This is for a Christmas gift, but I'm not going to tell you exactly what the project is yet.  All of the yarn is Madelinetosh Tosh DK which is a multi-plied superwash merino (not to be confused with Madelinetosh Tosh Merino DK, which is a singles yarn of superwash merino).  I've got to get one more color that The Loopy Ewe is out of, but I've contacted someone on Ravelry who has the color in their stash and is looking to sell it.  From the top, starting with the black and going clockwise the colors are:

• Cloak
• Mare
• Ink
• Fathom
• Betty Draper's Blues
• Norway Spruce
• Moorland
• Jade
• Nutmeg
• French Grey
• Moccasin
• Sequoia
• Oxblood

The color I'm going to add is Tart which is a dark, true red.  It would sit between the Sequoia and Oxblood in the wheel, if I were working things in order.  When I was picking colors, I was looking for colors you might find in an antique Oriental carpet.  Maybe the kind that flies!  Before I start working with all these colors, I'm going to wash all the skeins, just to make sure none of the colors are going to bleed on any of the other colors.  This will take some time to get everything washed and dried, but I'll be sure to blog it once I actually get started on this project.  For now, I'm just loving all these rich, deep colors.

Have a great weekend!

Glacier

 

I've gotten to the point where I work fingers!  I'm now very hopeful that I'll get these finished by the end of the month.  (Fingers are quick, and the thumbs shouldn't take too long, but there are lots of strings to weave in at the end!)  Also, I'm still on my first ball of yarn (The Loopy Ewe Solid Series in Cornflower) and I might be able to finish these with one ball.  I'm working the small size and I'm working at a slightly smaller gauge than the pattern calls for because the small size was a little bigger than I needed, so that might be why I've got so much yarn left.

I don't think I've shown you the palm of these yet, because most of the twisted, traveling stitch action is on the back of the hand.  The palms are pretty too and the design comes up over the heel of the hand, onto your palm a little.  It's really a pretty design and the thumb gusset is increased within the stitch pattern itself, almost like it grew there.  (Please disregard the scratches in the floor, big dogs and hardwood aren't the best combination, particularly when the big dog in question believes he is a direct descendant of Seabiscuit.)

More Glacier

 

I think I forgot to mention yesterday that this will be all I'm working on until both of my Glacier fingerless gloves are finished.  Just to warn you.

I got a little farther on them yesterday.  I'm now to the point where the palms are just stockinette so that is making the rounds quicker to knit.  Once I take the thumb stitches off the needle and put them on a holder, things should move even faster.  I'm less than 10 rounds away from taking off the thumb stitches.

Just in case you've never knit anything with thumbs, once you get to the point where the stitches that will be your thumb reach the top of the webbing on your hand between your thumb and hand, you take the stitches off and put them on a stitch holder or waste yarn and then continue knitting the hand in the round.    Then later you can pick up the thumb stitches and knit a tiny tube for your thumb.  Since most of the knitted thumbs I've made increase from the wrist to the thumb for a thumb gusset, the rounds working up to the point where the thumb stitches come off are longer than the rest of the glove or mitten.  It always feels like I'm on the home stretch once I put these stitches on waste yarn.  Also, for some reason, I always do both thumbs together at the end.  Fingers or fingerlets I'll do as I finish each glove, but thumbs are last and together.

More Glacier tomorrow!  (Try to control yourselves.)

Glacier

Yesterday morning ended up being one of those crazy mornings, and when crazy happens on a Monday, it's REALLY crazy.  Fortunately, we're reasonably back on track this morning so I have a chance to update you on my Glacier progress.   I'm about 2/3 of the way from the beginning of the glove to the point where I work the fingers, so I'm hopeful that I will get these done in time (the deadline being next Tuesday at midnight).  I am also still working on the left glove - didn't change over to a right glove partway through - yet.  I'm hoping the thumb will stop me from doing that at this point.

Max has been distracted by Caleb's Legos the last few evenings so I've been able to get some work done on my knitting.  Who knew kittens liked Legos this much?

Maximus Friday

The Mommy gave me the blog today, although isn't really my blog anyway?  Everything else in this house is mine, I think the blog should be too.  (I'm still training the Mommy and Daddy that everything is mine, they aren't easily trainable.)  Sometimes Mommy plays with string (mine) and I try to help.  Often she uses sharp sticks with the string and I take them from her so she doesn't poke herself.  It's best when Mommy packs the string and sticks into a bag, then I can just grab the bag and run off.  My biggest problem is that Mommy can get under the bed where I hide things.  Then she takes back the things I'm protecting her from.  Mommy is also fun to snuggle with.  She'll let me sit in her lap a lot and if it's cold, she lets me climb in her jacket and wraps it around me.  Sometimes I just climb down the sleeve and sleep there if she's wearing one of Daddy's big jackets.  Daddy is proving to be more easy to teach than Mommy and I've found that if I jump on him, he'll carry me around on his shoulder.  If he does a good job, I give him a tail moustache as a reward.  The Daddy is easily amused.  He's also fun to purr at in the middle of the night.  He'll pet me back to sleep and I'll just purr and purr and purr at him.

I also have a boy who is very fun to play with.  He has lots of fun toys that fit in my mouth and I can carry them around.  We also play a game together.  The Mommy and Daddy think I should go to my bedroom when they leave the house (it's not bad, it's pretty big and I have a king size bed in there that I share with the Mommy and Daddy).  Sometimes the Mommy asks the Caleb boy to bring me downstairs to the bedroom.  That's when we play our game.  Caleb calls me and tries to catch me and I bounce away, just out of reach.  Then I sit down and wait until the Caleb gets close again and bounce away again.  We have lots of fun with that game.  I have other games I play with Logan dog.  He and I love to chase each other and sometimes I can circle around and sneak up behind him.  Then I bounce off of him and take off in another directions.  He loves to run, but he doesn't corner as well as I do.  One of my favorite things to do with the Logan is when Mommy or Daddy put him into a "stay", then I run up to him, puff up really big and hop sideways at him a couple of times.  Then I tear off at top speed and he HAS to chase me, I mean it's a moral imperative that a dog chase a cat after we say that to them (Mommy says I can't give an exact translation because this is a family blog).  Then the Logan gets in trouble.  I usually take a bath then and wait until he's forgotten he's supposed to be staying before starting it all over again.  I guess I'm pretty lucky to have such a fun family.  I love weekends when everyone is around all the time though.  I hope you have a good weekend!

Halfway There

 

I've finished the first Glacier fingerless glove (minus the thumb - those I do together at the end, and a bunch of yarn ends) and started the second one!  I did start a left glove (the first was a right glove) so assuming I don't get confused, I should end up with a left glove.  I don't take this for granted, I know it will take constant vigilance on my part to end up with a left glove and not a weird, hybrid left/right glove.  I only had to remove Max from the yarn seven times last night, and only removed him from the needles four times.  This is an improvement, but the round where you join the cast on edge to the working edge to make the hem still took over an hour.  (I zipped right through that round on the first glove.)  At this point, I think I might get these done before the month is out.  At least there's a chance.  I haven't run this by Max yet, he might have other plans.

Fuzzy Daisies

 

I've gotten some more done on my Horai scarf.  Remember how I mentioned what an easy pattern it is to work?  It would be twice this size if I didn't keep making stupid mistakes!  I get to the end of a row, find out that I'm off somewhere, and have to tink back.  (So. Much. Fun. With. Mohair.)  I've got to figure out how to read the pattern as I go before I drive myself crazy.  Otherwise, it's really an easy pattern!

Actually, I find that I make more dumb mistakes on "easy" patterns because I don't pay attention as well as I do on the complex ones.  I'm not sure how smart that makes me.

You'll be happy to know that Max is no longer dabbling in lesser crimes, he's graduated to federal crime now - Grand Theft Auto to be exact.  Last night, after Caleb was tucked into bed and fast asleep, Mickael and I were getting ready for bed, Logan had been out for the last time and everything was locked up.  All of a sudden Maximus came running into the room, carrying something.  Sure enough, he'd been in Caleb's play room again and what had he brought downstairs?  A Matchbox car.  Not just any Matchbox car, it had flames on it, so it's not like he's stealing cars that blend in either - he's going for the flashy, high speed kind of cars.  Yep, Max lives his life a quarter mile at a time.  (Bonus points for knowing what movie that dumb line came from!)