Ta Da!

It is a wonder what a cold can do for your knitting time! I have been nursing a really yucky head cold. I was totally laid up yesterday and called out from work today. However it did give me the laying around time I needed to finish my Anatolian mittens from Folk Mittens. I must be sick and bored if I can finish a knitting project, photograph it, photoshop and flickr it in the same day!

For my next project I am hoping to work on the Lapland Mittens from the same book. I am thinking of starting a sweater in February. I have been thinking about the Origami Cardi from IK. I knit it a few years ago and it turned out to be too big for me. I think I have the right yarn, the right needles and a more realistic view of my sizing.

Work continues on the sewing front. I finished two tote bags but had a mini hissy fit over my lunch bags. In my defense I wasn't feeling well and the thread kept sticking on the little cutout on the top of the spool and breaking.

Anatolian mittens

This is a work in progress shot of second naknimitmo09 project the Anatolian Mittens from Folk Mittens. Not the best photos. I rushed them to get something up in Ravelry.

I am using the left overs from the Big Ivy Scarf I finished a while back. Speaking of Big Ivy I need to bust that monster out. It is freezing here in Philly!

I have been sewing like crazy every night I finished 5 morsbags for my sister's birthday tomorrow. I got some great Eagles fabric at Joann's for 50% off. Thanks nice old lady who shared her coupons with me. I appreciate it. I cut out two shopping bags, three lunch bags and four drawstrings for tomorrow. We have the day off for MLK day.

naknimitmo 2009 and a sassy leftover

I love mittens and I cannot lie. I joined naknimitmo on Ravelry. Everyone has committed to knit at least one pair of something that goes on your hands. Great for a cold January. I decided I wanted to knit Ashley a pair of mittens for her birthday and this seemed like a logical tie in. I decided to do the Give a Hoot Mittens by Jocelyn Tunney. The pattern has a cable that looks like an owl. She had buttons for eyes but I used some green wooden beads I repurposed from the Nudge's bracelet making kit. I love the look of the eyes. The first pair was a little tiny so I uped the needle size to 7 and whipped out the second pair on the bus this week. They are so sweet and cute I just love them.

I also gifted Amelia's hat and scarf so I can share this last remaining FO from 2008. She wanted a hat that looked like an acorn and had a stem. So I decided to make her the Sunflower Tam from Knitting Nature. She wanted turquoise so I busted out some of the old reliable RHSS from the Walmart. This is a good choice for Amelia she is both a sloppy pre-teen and a swimmer who doesn't dry her hair. She loves it so mission accomplished.

Check out Morsbags.com if you like to sew, use recycled totes or care about marine mammals. I started a pod called Eco-friendly Bensalem, join me and help marine mammals.

Mittens first than Tam. Enjoy!

Tree of Life Aran

As everyone who has seen me knitting since November knows I decided to knit my mom an aran for christmas. I chose the Tree of Life Aran from the first american publication of Classic British Knits by Madeline Weston. (librarian rant starts here: She published three books and they are either variants of the same book or a book consisting of most of the same patterns, a cataloging nightmare end rant)

I knit the pattern like a crazy woman and still wasn't finished before I started my christmas vacation. I had to redo half of the front left because the arm holes did not match. I knit for eight hours a day for the four days that led up to christmas and busted the entire thing out including blocking and sewing on christmas eve before the party.

The knit is challenging and looks like dog food before blocking but when it blocks oh wow. It looks awesome. Mom loved the sweater, I loved the sweater and her sister's were jealous. A job well done. I avoided my knitting bag for three days and then started three new small projects. I also take a small pride in being the only person on Ravelry crazy enough to knit this cardigan! The first photo is mom the second is me trying on the sweate and contemplating the idea of saying that is was ruined and keeping it for myself.