Snippets

If I could get pictures from the good camera straight into twitter, I would have been tempted to tweet these musings over the last couple of weeks. In no particular order, here's a bit of catch-up:

First up, my travel knitting of choice: Dovetail Cowl by Carina Spencer. It's a lovely little piece that I would definitely knit again (the larger version the second time).

LOVE the yarn! I used Swans Island merino/alpaca blend in oatmeal. It feels like butter. Remember when we all thought malabrigo worsted was the softest merino you could find? Try the Swans Island. Trust me.

There was not quite enough of it for my mod to extend the pattern chart. So I stole from the rolled stockinette edge at the bottom to finish the upper ribbing. I wasn't that fond of the rolled edge anyway. Maybe on the bigger cowl.

My one-week trip for work got extended to two. That's a long time. So I did what any respectable knitter with available funds would do: I bought yarn. Rocky Coast will be mine!

I may have also bought a mitten kit from Tanis Fiber Arts. In my defense, the last time I saw a mitten kit that I liked from Tanis, I told myself to be good and wait until I was ready to knit the pattern. But when I was finally ready, the kit had been discontinued. Lesson learned: just buy it.

These are for summer. Because I just can't knit mittens in winter. Mittens are the epitome of delayed gratification and when I'm walking home from work and the wind is in my face, I want the new mittens now. 

Shoot, I saw this while grabbing the link for the mitten kit. It's really tempting. Please remind me that I do not need more yarn now. 

Last weekend I took scissors to my rams and yowes. It went from this

to this:

I'm now three colors into the garter stitch edging. That's a lot of garter stitch. This may take a little while.

(And note to self: the next time you do a steeking project, re-read Eunny's Steek Chronicles before starting. I used a checkerboard steek where vertical lines would have been easier to see when doing the crochet reinforcement. And I really should have spit spliced at the color changes rather than just leaving the ends to be cut with the steek. There are a few little hanging floats that got inadvertently snipped. I don't think they'll be a problem. I hope.)

Finally, my two favorite people have new handknits. Or rather, the smaller one has a finished handknit jumper that she didn't want to wear this morning (but it's done!). And the larger one has another promise of a sweater as one of his b-day gifts. But this is better than my promise-of-a-sweater from two years ago: this time I have the yarn and I even swatched!

That's it, the new sign of true love: swatching. I don't do it for just anyone.