Kristi's Mittens

I wish all of you a Happy New Year full of time to knit. I also wish that the knitting book publishers and magazines will start to provide some challenging patterns. Here are my 2003 FOs:

4 Sweaters & Vests - Dale of Norway Sirdal cardigan, Starmore St. Enda, gray vest, Dale of Norway baby cardigan #12406

9 Pairs of Mittens - Child's mittens, Meida's mittens, Lavold Harald mittens, 2 pairs child's bunny mittens, Vinternatt mittens, Turkey Mittens, Paradoxical Mittens, Kristi's Mittens

6 Pairs of Socks & Slippers - Fuzzy Feet, Spin-Off Entrelac socks, 2 pairs adult bunny slippers, Blackberry Ridge Halloween socks, Aran Sandal Socks

6 Scarves - Red Spontaneous Scarf, Brown Spontaneous Scarf, Blue/green Spontaneous Scarf, Koigu Cross Stitch Scarf, Multi-Directional Scarf, Red & Blue Spontaneous Scarf

11 Hats & Headbands - Bea Ellis Telemark headband, 2 children's Bunnies & Carrots hats, 4 adult Bunnies & Carrots hats, Zilboorg Cone hat, Turkish Infant Cap, Shadow Hat, Wellington Hat

1 Pair of Gloves - Sanquhar gloves

3 Miscellaneous - 1 lizard, 1 mini-bunny

HAUNTED MITTENS




Here is the first Kristi's mitten photo. The pattern is from Nancy Bush's Folk Knitting in Estonia and is done in size 0 dpns and Elann's baby cashmere. The yarn is a bit hairy (due to the alpaca) and inelastic but it held up remarkably well to all the problems that needed fixing. I initially made some weird mistake at the beginning of the cuff which I couldn't ladder down to fix for some reason so I ripped the whole thing out. Then I managed to forget the entire center row in one of the early pattern repeats so I ripped out the mitten a second time. Then I must have ripped out the two different yarns unevenly because when I picked up the yarns each color was on a different row. It took me a while to figure that one out. duh

So I finished the second mitten. What is wrong with this picture???




Yes, that's right - I made two left mittens. sigh So I ripped that out and here's a photo of the mittens done the right way. You'd think I was finally done with this jinxed project, right? But noooooo.


In this scan of the inside of the mitten you can see that because of the long floats of this particular pattern the yarns are already starting to snag. So I had to tack down the floats on the inside of each mitten.



This particular project represented 2003 for me - many problems and much confusion but the only answer is to keep trying. You can still end up with something good.

THE BEST OF 2003



I guess my favorite project this year would be the Spin-Off entrelac socks done in handspun Easter egg dyed Merino. Runners up would be the Aran Sandal Socks (pictured yesterday) and Meida's mittens from Folk Knitting in Estonia in softer-than-soft Richesse et Soie.



My best knitting accomplishments this year include finishing St. Enda and the Sirdal cardigan. My most gratifying knitting was all the rabbit stuff I knit for the Colorado chapter of the House Rabbit Society.



My best purchases this year would certainly be Debbie New's Unexpected Knitting and the Cascade 220 I got on sale at Webs to make Malin for around $40. Also, I bought the Threads Knitting Around the World compilation at a used bookstore for a few dollars - I think this one is relatively hard to find and priced high on Ebay.



The best knitting publication isn't a knitting magazine at all - Spin-Off rules with the most creative inspiration for knitters. My best knitting gifts this year were my Ott-Lite and my music stand, both from DH.



THE WORST OF 2003



The award for worst knitting magazine goes to all of them. I can't vote on worst knitting book because I haven't seen all of them. My least favorite yarn this year was Emu Superwash DK - it just doesn't feel that great and I'm still unsure whether I'll finish Trondheim in it. I'm pretty picky about yarn though so your mileage may vary.



My worst knitting disaster was the beautiful Dale of Norway baby sweater in slippery superwash Norwegian Sport wool that started to disintegrate in the washing machine. sigh My worst knitting project was by far Kristi's mittens that I just finished - everything that could go wrong did. More on that tale of woe tomorrow.



By far the worst of 2003 was losing our beloved pet rabbits Flip (so named because he liked to flip on his side as shown) & Snickerdoodle (in one of his baby photos).













We still miss them terribly however I have it on good authority that an extra large female bunny with attitude may be moving here sometime soon to take up the slack.

There are some tremendously beautiful knitted sweaters out there you have to go see right now.



Sarah's wonderfall Snowfall keeps beckoning to me. It is from an old issue of Cast On and Sarah and the designer are the only ones who have the chart for it apparently.



Kris' Armaugh is just gorgeous. The sweater is from Celtic Collection by Alice Starmore and Kris looks great it in it.



Also, check out Karen's Lochinver from Fisherman's Sweaters also by AS. I think the yarn she used for it looks so beautiful don't you?



Here are the Aran Sandal Socks from Socks, Socks, Socks. I loved the pattern and loved the yarn (Cormo from a vendor at Taos Wool Festival - Elsa Sheep & Wool) so much I purposely slowed down the knitting. I used cardboard inserts to show the patterns and even managed to get a scan of my foot so you could see the heel.