Another pair of hand knit socks in the drawer!

I woke up this morning, put on my favorite pair of hand knit socks and blew out BOTH heels! Dang, I hate it when that happens. I always darn them and keep wearing them but my darning pile is starting to grow almost as big as my knitting UFO pile!

I finally finished these socks yesterday! I started them last summer. . .geesh. . .nothing like leaving work on needles forever.

Grey Arrow Socks Front view

I knit them in Alpaca Sox by Classic Elite Yarns. The fiber is soft and scrumptious and all the hardwork I did with my travelling stitches barely shows! Between the alpaca in the yarn and the marbled grey/black of the yarn my work gets a bit lost. Live and learn. At least they fit, are toasty warm, and the recipient loves them!

Grey Arrow Socks Back Fiew

The “arrows” are travelling stitches – worked over 6 stitches – they look like little railroad tracks except there are three rails. The front, back and top and bottom of foot have the stitches pointing down. Sure wish they showed up better.

Grey Arrow socks side view

I was going to write out the pattern for these but you have to move the stitches around so much I’m not sure if it’s worth it.

Now I need to get to my darning pile!

Another pair of noteworthy mitts (fingerless that is)

A lovely guitar playing friend of mine ordered a pair of my mitts. . . I’ve made quite a few pair of these and always in wool. However, my friend is allergic to wool. So I just jumped in and decided to knit them in cotton. I knit these fingerless mitts in Comfy Sport from Knit Picks – colors are Cypress and October.

I wasn’t sure how they would work up in cotton and I must say they are really soft and worked up quickly. Cotton sure doesn’t have the memory of cotton though. . . I’m afraid the ribbed cuffs might splay out on her. I did wash and dry these once and the blocked out nicely.

Cotton knit fingerless mitts

You can find this pattern in Ravelry

or at my Etsy Store

Sean in his Vest

I knit this vest for my father-in-law and love how it turned out.

I knit it in Peace Fleece, the background color is called Father’s Grey.

I’m still in the process of editing the pattern but hopefully it will available for sale soon.

Proud wearer of Sean's Vest

He seems as pleased with it as I am.

I wanted something with color but not too much color.

I wanted a “manly” vest and I really like the stripes alongside the button/neck ribbing.

Close up of Sean's Vest

I steeked the front band, armholes and neck while knitting.

This yarn worked up wonderfully and sewing the steeks back went easily.

What a great model!

What a great model heh?!

Twined knit neck warmers

I’m still in love with twined knitting!

These cowls/neckwarmers/headbands work up so quick and take very little yarn.

Hand knit cowls

Hand knit scarves

The black is solid, the gold is slightly variegated.

The blue is a mohair blended with shiny nylon.

The beige and white is knit in alpaca and silk… verrrry soft and squishy!

Wear them as neck warmers or as head bands over your ears. Dual purpose!!

I can’t decide which side I like better as the outside, or one might say, the “public side”.

Knitting with bunny fur!

Last year while at Shepherd’s Harvest I bought some hand spun angora from  Cozy Rabbit Farm. I love this stuff! It is super soft, a dream to knit, and super warm.

Hand knit Angora Scarf

This scarf took 1.5 oz of this yummy angora. The scarf measure 38″ x 3 1/2″ and is so light and airy! I wrap it around my neck and it keeps me comfy all evening while knitting! The pattern is a very simple rib on size 7 needes: Row 1-knit, Row 2-k1,p1. Repeat.

Hand knit angora scarf

I can’t wait to order more of this yarn!

I also knit this scarf with “novelty sheep yarn” from the same Cozy Rabbit Farms. It is also hand knit and hand dyed. This scarf used 200 yards of 2 ply.

Hand Knit Lace Scarf

I modified the lace pattern for this scarf from one I found in Mary Thomas’s Book of Knitting Patterns. She calls this pattern “horseshoe imprint” and it is found on page 175 in her book. She has the repeat occuring over 10 (+1) stitches. I made it 12 stitches wide instead, adding a stitch to each side. On the sides of the scarf is running a “faggot” lace stitch over 4 stitches.

More Twined Knitting with beads!

Finally some good photos of the twined mittens I knit.

These were knit in Gems Merino sport weight and I used 5 different kinds of beads for the design.

The beads in the cuff were knit in. . . the beads on the back of the hand were crocheted on.

Twined knit and beaded mittens

Karen's Twined knit mitens

here you can see them with the coat they were meant to match! I thinnk they match perfectly!

Twined knitting mittens

I am so enamored with this twined knitting thing. . .wait till you see the neck cowls I’ve been twining!

Peace Fleece Vest for Sean

Oooh I love how this vest turned out. I orderd some Peace Fleece this fall (the grey background is called “Father’s Gray”) with the intentions of making a vest for my father-inlaw. I wanted something a bit sophisticated but also a color pattern. I am very pleased with my results!! The pattern for this vest is in progress and hopefully I’ll have it done soon.

It worked up very quickly since it is knit in the round with steeked front and armholes. The ribbing edges were done last.

These photos aren’t the best  – can’t wait to photograph it on Sean!!

Fair Isle hand knit vest

The buttons are from a jacket that I had ages ago. . .when the jacket was worn thin and I retired it to the trash, I saved these nice metal buttons.

Hand knit fair isle vest

Look for the pattern in the near future!

Needlefelting oven mitts

I started a new line of items for needlefelting surface design. These mitts are hand knit and then fulled in the washer.
They knit up quickly and then we’re onto the fun of needlefelting!!

Twined Knitting

Well, I must say I LOVE how this knittin looks. I even got used to spinning the ball of yarn to untwist it.

For my recent birthday my family gave me the book “twined Knitting, a Swedish Folkcrafrt Technique”. It was too expensive for my blood but I love this book. Now I have to return the copy I was using to the Textile Center Library.

A friend commissioned these mittens to match a new coat.

The mitts were knit in black, Gems Merino DK weight yarn. For some reason my camera didn’t work very well. I’ll need to get better photos!!

Twined knitt mittens

The beads on the cuff were knit in as I went. Notice how I did the thumb gusset. I wanted these to be a one of a kind!

Black twine knit mittens

Here they are after I crocheted beads onto the back of the mitts. The coat these were made to match is red with half  circle designs in black. I think the mitts match very well. Now I just need to figure out what is wrong with my cameral!

New knitting pattern available & a new love!

Charlotte’s Tam pattern is now available on my etsy site! I’ve made three of them now and they work up so nicely!

The one shown on the pattern is knit  in Gale Woods Farm’s sock yarn and it was perfect. I knit another one using two skeins of  Mission Falls 136 Merino and that turned out very nice as well. 136 Merino is sooo soft and fun to work with.

I tried one in a worsted weight to see what would happen. . .it is a bit big! The diameter across the top is 13″. . . looks a bit funny on my head!

I’ve found a new love!!! Twined Knitting.

While at the library at the Minnesota Textile Center I found a book  “Twined Knitting, a Swedish Folkcraft Technique”. The book is full of great pictures, mitten, glove and hat patterns and history. I became so entrigued I started a project right away. I have some New Zealand wool I picked up at a sale somewhere and it is perfect for twined knitting.

This must be the definitive book on Twined knitting since I’ve been searching on line for one and the cheapest one I’ve found is 86$. . ouch. . .too much or my book budget, but I’m keeping it on my wish list.