lots and lots of knitting...

The Liesl cardigan

Pattern by Ysolda Teague

Yarn hand dyed by Genevieve {lemon grass color way} at Sweet Basil Fibre Works.

Muckle Mitts

Pattern by Mary Jane Mucklestone

Yarn Cascade sport weight {green} and using up some of my stash {yellow}.

Such a great pattern and I'm looking forward to digging into my stash to knit up some other color combos!

Wraps are both the TGV (High Speed Knitting)

Pattern by Susan Ashcroft

Yarn is Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool

deck the halls

Falling Snow Stocking pattern by Jennifer Hoel on ravelry here.

I made the other stockings several years ago, using fabric scraps.

and another sweater was born

Paulie sweater by Isabell Kraemer - more pictures and details on ravelry here.

weekend

learning two stranded knitting also a Latvian plait cast on! fancy.

freshly baked bread

new hat for david

The reversible Christopher hat, using Cascade yarn. Double thickness and two looks to keep David warm these cold months. As an aside, I really like Jane Richmond's patterns; I've also made her oatmeal pullover.

for M and C's baby

Sugar N' Cream cotton yarn in yellow with sailboat buttons

Pattern: Baby Sandals from The Knitter's Year by Debbie Bliss

shalom cardigan

{click to enlarge}

on ravelry here

Oatmeal Pullover in Rust

I signed myself up for the 11 Sweaters in 2011 group on Ravelry, so I got a decent head start with this ambitious goal by starting with this quick knit. Just took me 6 days to knit!
On Ravelry: here.

orange!

To brighten up the first week of January -here are some orange things that are growing in our house this week. David is growing some carrots on our windowsill and the bright orange with the sprigs of spring green makes me so happy.
Also, I am almost done with the main section of Jane Richmond's Oatmeal Pullover; I'm using Lamb's Pride bulky wool/mohair in rust. With such a thick yarn, this sweater is knitting up really quickly!

handmade gifts

I was excited to knit some Christmas presents this year.
I made my mom a pair of the French Press Felted Slippers
and I made David a pair of fingerless gloves, using a free pattern on Ravelry by Susan Letourneau. Ravelry link for slippers. Ravelry link for gloves.Both recipients seemed really grateful!

lots and lots and lots of knitting lately

Finished putting on the buttons and blocking my first sweater (go everywhere go with everything cardigan out of Stitch 'N Bitch).

Also finished the Lovely Liesl by Ysolda.
And I finished a pair of socks.

guess what I got!

Today, I picked up this cute Louet S15 Spinning Wheel!! It is single treadle, with a built in metal lazy kate. Found on Craigslist (thanks for pointing it out, Cosy!) It works beautifully - at least so far...I've learned a lot already after practicing on it for just a short while.

In other news:
~we are canning apple butter today
~I finally learned how to turn a heel on a sock
~and I have two sweaters that I blocked yesterday drying in our attic.

I'd call that a full weekend.

new gloves in motion

I am really happy with how this new handspun turned out and it made the warmest fingerless gloves! I used one of Hobbledehoy's batts called Tigerlily and I still have some leftover! If the gloves weren't so nice, I'd be wearing them while I plant our bulbs in this cooler weather.

made especially for David

The pattern is by Jared Flood called Turn A Square, which I found on Ravelry. I was hoping that the hat would be a surprise, but when I asked David for color recommendations at the yarn store, it just was easier to tell him that I was making him a hat. I think it looks great on him! Seeing as how he hasn't taken it off today, I think he really likes it, too! :)

felted slippers

I am in love with these slippers. I used the pattern by Melynda Bernardi Designs called French Press Felted Slippers (found on Ravelry). The pattern was simple: just increases, decreases, and lots of seaming. I was a bit intimidated by the felting process since I had never done this before... at least on purpose (heh heh).

As it turns out - felting is simple and way too much fun. After skeptically dropping 14" long slippers into the hot water, I was practically squealing with delight when five minutes later - I pulled out normal sized slippers; it was magical and reminded me of Shrinky Dinks!

The hardest part of the project was waiting for the slippers to dry. They are the coziest!

neck cozy

The cooler weather finally motivated me to finish spinning the above roving into yarn. The roving was hand carded (2.3 oz.) merino, kid mohair, glitz, bamboo 034, which I purchased from the Hobbledehoy Etsy Store.
I checked ravelry for neck cozy patterns and found one called the Dulce Neck Cozy by Fiddle Knits -- I made a couple of changes to the pattern and it just took a couple hours to whip this out.
The yarn is incredibly soft and warm. Bring on fall!