FO: (Modified) Mitered Mittens

 

I knit up these mittens quickly during the last days of July.  The pattern, a tried and true Elizabeth Zimmerman from The Knitters Almanac, suggests knitting them in May, when the winter is a fading memory and it's getting too warm to have piles of wool on your lap.  It's good advice.  Before you realize it you have something special to tuck away for when the cold winds blow again.

The pattern itself is simply a paragraph, describing the basics (number of sts. to cast on, approx. length to top of mittens, etc.).  No frills, no row-by-row instructions; your only guide being a leap faith that if you just follow her advice the mittens will turn out well.

I modified the thumb gussets using Kathryn Ivy's instructions and love the way they turned out.

The wool for these mittens is one of the skeins I hand painted in late June.  I am pretty excited to see the skein knit up, and even more excited that there wasn't any weird pooling!  I also think these would be great looking in a yarn with really long color repeats.

The mittens fit well, snug with enough give to be comfortable.  I think I could even squeeze in an upcycled cashmere sweater lining.  Sounds divine, no?

7th Birthday

My twins turn seven today - and they are full into the American Girl doll scene. 

My parents got them the camping tent (it fits two dolls), which got me thinking about the other gifts that fit with the camping/hiking theme.  Since we enjoy camping and hiking as a family, I got each girl a pair of special hiking shorts - the kind with mesh pockets, d-rings and ties.

And then I ventured back into the world of 'sewing for dolls' for a second gift: doll sleeping bags. I kept it relatively simple, with a self-designed pattern for a sleeping bag. 

But it turns out that my sewing machine really IS broken (at first I thought I had just mis-threaded it, but there is certainly something wrong with the bobbin mechanism now) so I couldn't turn them into proper sleeping bags.

As I finished them with more hand stitching then I care to re-count, I decided to call them camping rolls.  And they have been met with more enthusiasm then I could have hoped for (cue the big sigh of relief).  They didn't even realize that I made them at first - a high compliment in my book - and then I showed them photos of them as babies, wrapped in the flannel blankets I used to line the sleeping rolls, and they exclaimed, "SO COOL!"














The rolls are made with a heavy cotton exterior, flannel interior and lined with a layer of cotton batting.  They measure approximately 20 inches long by 12 inches wide.  There isn't any top-stitching (a detail I would have liked to add) and they mostly just fold over the top of the dolls.  The ribbon ties are nice and long so the girls can roll and tie them up themselves.  The pillows are sewn directly into the top seam and fold down, or up, depending on your preference. 

Amish Quilt Auction

my bidder number

This past Saturday there was an Amish Quilt Auction in southern Wisconsin, near the communities of Brodhead and Albany.  We are lucky to have relatives that live down that way and we spent part of our weekend at the auction with friends and family.

one of ten racks of quilts and quilt tops for auction

There were hundreds and hundreds of quilts: finished quilts, King-size quilts, antique quilts, pieced quilt tops, baby quilts and everything in between.  And that was just under the quilt tent.  There was another tent devoted to Amish furniture and other goods, as well as a farm equipment auction, food, cold drinks and a horse that made ice cream (by pulling on the hand crank).

under the quilt tent

We had a fantastic time - there were a couple professional auctioneers that kept things lively - and I came home with two quilts. One is a double-wedding ring quilt in very bright colors, and the other is red polka-dots on a tan background. These are bright and modern looking quilts; they are not a good representation of the traditional designs, historic quilts, antique quilts and solid colors that dominated the auction. But they are in keeping with my personal aesthetic. 

double wedding ring quilt, queen size

All the quilts went for good prices and I hope will provide for the kids of the Clearview school, and all the members of local Amish communities, in the coming year.

red ball quilt, full size

And if you are interested to attend in the future you are in luck.  It is an annual event.

detail of double wedding ring quilt

FO: Current

Thanks to a much needed gift of a night 'off' from my husband, I curled up in a quiet corner of the house last week and worked furiously on the last sleeve of my sweater.  And by mid-morning the next day I finished it!

And would you believe that last little bit of yarn was the end of my third ball?!  I didn't even have to break into the fourth skein, not even a little.  As I worked on the sleeve I kept rolling over in my head things like, "when will this ball run out?" or "I can't believe that I just might squeak this one out!"  And at the end of my final row, I came to the end of the skein. 

I'm not terribly superstitious, but I am enough to wonder what it might mean when two ends come together in such a perfect way.

The sweater fits beautifully, but I have yet to find buttons, weave in the ends, and decide whether I want to block it.  I might give it a whirl to even out some stitches and give the whole sweater a more polished look, but I sure don't want to lose any of the fit.  It's a great pattern, a lovely sweater and I'm so happy the result.

And not more than 30 minutes after binding off that last sleeve my daughter snapped the photo below of me working on my 'strawberry and pineapple' socks.  Not sure if these are destined for me, or as a gift, but they are fun to work up.  Interestingly, it is one of a few rare photos of me actually knitting.  There's plenty of my work product and process, but not too many action shots (smile). 

More photos of the finished sweater to come...after the last details are sewn up and placed.