Hand Warmers!

So I whipped these up two winters ago when I was in need of some quick gift ideas. I used some super wonderful Malabrigo, you don't even need a whole skein for one pair. They could totally be worked up in different yarn, a new stitch pattern, or even some colorwork! They're worked in one piece on straight needles, so they're great for beginners and depending on the yarn could be worn year round. One recipient likes them for driving, cause they leave her finger free but keep her hands a wrists warm. They're also great for winter knitting, as they leave your fingers free!

Project: Handwarmers!

Yarn:Half a skein Malabrigo Worsted 

Gauge: 4-5 sts in St st on size 9 needles

Needles: Size US 8 straight 

Notions: A yarn needle, and any other buttons, beads or ribbons you might choose to add.

CO 30 stitches, leaving a tail of several inches for seaming 

Next row : *K2, P2* until last two stitches, k to end.

Continue in *K2, P2* ribbing pattern for 9 more rows (ten rows total)

Change to St st  (knit one row, purl the next) for 30 rows

Switch back to the K2,P2 rib for 10 rows and bind off, leave a tail of several inches for seaming.

FINISHING

This part involves some math. the ribbing at the bottom should end just before your hand starts to curve out. Seam all the way up until just below your thumb. End here and tie it off. Then you will seam from the top down to the curve between your thumb and index finger. This created the thumb hole. 

I hope these directions are okay. This is my first pattern I've ever tried to write out. Let me know if there's anything I should have, or anything I don't need or if I have a mistake. 

I'm sorry I don't have any pictures to put up, I hopefully will soon. Also I'll post a drawing (is schematic the right word? for measuring and seaming as soon as I can! 

Long time no see!

Its been a while! You would think that summer would clear up my schedule...it doesn't. I have, however gotten a lot farther on the HP sweater, I'm almost on the edge of sleeve number two, then all I need to do is seam it up and finish the neckband. 

Meanwhile I started and finished an AMAZING shrug in a beautiful blue hand dyed merino. It's soo beyond perfect. Except the one sleeve is a little short and I was left with less than a yard. I love it regardless. 

I also started the High Fidelity Sweater for Debbie Stoller's Son of Stitch and Bitch for my dad. This is my first foray into color work. So far it has been bust. 

I decided on Fair Isle for the color. I thought there was no way I could pull it too tight across the back. Oops. I pulled it just tight enough that it's slightly to small but not tight enough to truly justify frogging. I am frustrated. I have promised myself I will finish these projects before I start a new one. It's driving me nuts.

Second Sock Syndrome, or wool sweater in summer syndrome.

So the knitting is not going so well on the sweater. Who wants to knit a full on wool sweater in a Minnesota summer? Not me, it turns out. But I trudge onward. 

I have this lovely lace weight merino that is desperate to be knitting sitting in my stash. I have about 1300 yards. 400 is wound..the rest? not so much. Again this is my road block. I don't want to hand wind the rest, like I did the first 400 (yes,please learn from my mistake DO NOT ATTEMPT TO WIND LACE WEIGHT BY HAND) and it was killer. Current project is to get to LYS and have the rest wound.I think it will make a gorgeously light lacy shawl. I also need a pattern for this. The yarn is from KnitPicks. It is their Gossamer, in trail. It looks like fall when the leaves turn. Best of all I got it on wicked sale. I'd suggest heading over there and snatching it up before someone else does.

Oops...

So this weekend started off with a bang. Or more of a smash really. The smash being the front corner of my car and the front of someone else's. Not exactly a pleasant experience, but no one was hurt and the damage was minimal. 

In other news I have hit a bit of a roadblock on the Mrs. Weasley Sweater. That is, I don't feel like knitting it. But I want it. So I shall persevere. I wish there were some patterns out for the knits worn in the Order of the Pheonix movie. Specifically Ginny's green top she wears in the Christmas scene. It's green and some kind of mohair, I think. Very darling. I have a top cut like it but it shrank in the wash, I'd love to make another. 

In better news, only 4 more days of High School! I am incredibly excited.

Wizard Knitting

Hello all! 

Welcome to my blog, You knit some, you purl some. I am not new to the knitting world, just to the knitting-blogging world! I have been knitting on and off since I was eight, when I fist taught myself but really got into it fall of 2006 when I was overwhelmed by an intense junior year in high school and the projects have yet to stop flying off the needles. I am 18, an avid reader and I  love my cat, Louis XIV, who of course also loves my knitting with an (overly) fervent passion and can often make it difficult. Although I am up to my ears in U.F.O.'s, I never seem to be able to resist a new project. That being said...meet my newest obsession.

The Mrs. Weasley Sweater.

The pattern can also be found in Alison Hansel's book Charmed Knits.

I have desperately wanted one since I was eight and our dear friend Harry received one from Mrs. Weasley in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Now, ten years later I have finally accumulated the skill, pattern and motivation to knit it. I have convinced Claire, my sister, and Kirstyn, fellow HP fan and friend extrodinaire, to knit-a-long.

Our yarn of choice is Cascade Ecological Wool and Eco+. I went with a lovely heather grey, color 8020(and its totally undyed...how cool!), while Kirstyn opted for 9006, an adorable double stranded yarn  in white and grey and Claire just had to be unique and go with color 2749, a delightful shade of Macaroni and Cheese. 

Now this is a big deal. Claire, does not knit. In public, that is. Kirstyn and I plan to knit away the last six days of our senior year, but Claire adamantly refuses to knit anywhere but the secrecy of our house or the car. Regardless of the fact that her friends find it TOTALLY cool that she knits. Oh well. She is nothing if not determined, so it will get done.  

I have finished the back and began work on the front(much to the dismay of my fellow knitters). I'm planning on using duplicate stitch for the letter on the front and am hoping to find a pattern for a "G" but I could deal with an "H" as well. 

I promise pictures will follow soon!