Projects X, Y and Z
Now that all the recipients have their knitting gifts in hand (some of them on hand), I can post some pictures.
So without further ado, Projects X, Y and Z (no longer mysterious and no longer italicized.)
(NOTE: Please forgive the craptastic lighting for all the following pictures. Although it is wonderfully sunny today, it has be western NY winter gray for all the days surrounding Christmas. Makes taking pictures of knitwear nearly impossible as not using the flash results in dark pictures and using the flash tends to wash out details and alter yarn colors. I've even tried using a bit of translucent plastic over the flash on my camera to help disperse the flash a bit, but it doesn't change the quality of the pictures and really only makes me feel like I've made an effort.)
Project X: Wine and Roses Mitts for DS
Here they are being used for knitting voodoo...otherwise known as blocking. Lots of hostility can be released during this step depending on the force used to insert the pins.
Here they are on my lovely DS's hands:
And a picture where the lace pattern is more evident:
Details:
Pattern: Wine and Roses Mitts from Interweave Knits Winter 2006
(I've used this pattern three times now and it is a fast knit with an easy to follow lace pattern.)
Yarn: Knit Picks Palette in Verdant Heather
Needles: US 2 (Knit Picks Harmony Wood double points: nice and pointy which makes doing Y2tog very easy)
Mods: Made thumb about twice as long for more coverage
Project Y: Cabled Mitts for Colleen
Also for DS (It warms the cockles (cockles??? 171,476 words currently in use in the English language and I opt for "cockles"?! **) of a knitter's heart to have people who love and appreciate getting hand knit items.
Details:
Pattern: Mom's Cabled Mitts by Jessica Jensen from Ravelry
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden #252, 2 skeins so the colors would match
Needles: US 5
Mods: Made thumb longer for more coverage. (Adding length to the thumb seems a common modification to mitten patterns for me. Perhaps our family has orangutan length thumbs. Useful but a bit odd.)
And last but not least...
Project Z: For DD (Dear Dad -- Hi Dad!) (Sorry, Dad, I was so excited that you liked the scarf, I forgot to take a picture of you wearing it.)
Here is the scarf being modeled by our Christmas tree:
The pattern is called "Irish Hiking Scarf". Note apropos placement of Irish Christmas ornament -- If nothing else, I can totally get into an obvious theme.
Close up for cable detail:
Details:
Pattern: Irish Hiking Scarf on RavelryYarn: 1.8 skeins Berroco Comfort in gray (very soft and easy care)
Needles: US 7
Mods: None
Very short story about the needles: My grandma gave me her knitting needles years ago and I still use them often. They are the fairly typical colored metal ones that are available everywhere but mine are incredibly special because she used them so often that the color has been worn away at the very tips of the needles. I'm very blessed that I have a tangible reminder of her and all the care and love she put into all those knitted hats, mittens and sweaters she made for her grandkids, oh so long ago. Connecting is one of the many reasons I knit.
** Not that there is any precise answer but I was going to guess that there are about half a million words in the English language so I'm glad I looked it up. Only 171,476 words are currently in use according to the second edition of the Oxford English Dictionary so I was off by several orders of magnitude. There are apparently an additional 47,156 words that exist but are considered obsolete. (I wonder if "cockles" in reference to the heart is one of them.) You can lookhere if you're interested in the break down into parts of speech.
So without further ado, Projects X, Y and Z (no longer mysterious and no longer italicized.)
(NOTE: Please forgive the craptastic lighting for all the following pictures. Although it is wonderfully sunny today, it has be western NY winter gray for all the days surrounding Christmas. Makes taking pictures of knitwear nearly impossible as not using the flash results in dark pictures and using the flash tends to wash out details and alter yarn colors. I've even tried using a bit of translucent plastic over the flash on my camera to help disperse the flash a bit, but it doesn't change the quality of the pictures and really only makes me feel like I've made an effort.)
Project X: Wine and Roses Mitts for DS
Here they are being used for knitting voodoo...otherwise known as blocking. Lots of hostility can be released during this step depending on the force used to insert the pins.
Here they are on my lovely DS's hands:
And a picture where the lace pattern is more evident:
Details:
Pattern: Wine and Roses Mitts from Interweave Knits Winter 2006
(I've used this pattern three times now and it is a fast knit with an easy to follow lace pattern.)
Yarn: Knit Picks Palette in Verdant Heather
Needles: US 2 (Knit Picks Harmony Wood double points: nice and pointy which makes doing Y2tog very easy)
Mods: Made thumb about twice as long for more coverage
Project Y: Cabled Mitts for Colleen
Also for DS (It warms the cockles (cockles??? 171,476 words currently in use in the English language and I opt for "cockles"?! **) of a knitter's heart to have people who love and appreciate getting hand knit items.
Details:
Pattern: Mom's Cabled Mitts by Jessica Jensen from Ravelry
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden #252, 2 skeins so the colors would match
Needles: US 5
Mods: Made thumb longer for more coverage. (Adding length to the thumb seems a common modification to mitten patterns for me. Perhaps our family has orangutan length thumbs. Useful but a bit odd.)
And last but not least...
Project Z: For DD (Dear Dad -- Hi Dad!) (Sorry, Dad, I was so excited that you liked the scarf, I forgot to take a picture of you wearing it.)
Here is the scarf being modeled by our Christmas tree:
The pattern is called "Irish Hiking Scarf". Note apropos placement of Irish Christmas ornament -- If nothing else, I can totally get into an obvious theme.
Close up for cable detail:
Details:
Pattern: Irish Hiking Scarf on RavelryYarn: 1.8 skeins Berroco Comfort in gray (very soft and easy care)
Needles: US 7
Mods: None
Very short story about the needles: My grandma gave me her knitting needles years ago and I still use them often. They are the fairly typical colored metal ones that are available everywhere but mine are incredibly special because she used them so often that the color has been worn away at the very tips of the needles. I'm very blessed that I have a tangible reminder of her and all the care and love she put into all those knitted hats, mittens and sweaters she made for her grandkids, oh so long ago. Connecting is one of the many reasons I knit.
** Not that there is any precise answer but I was going to guess that there are about half a million words in the English language so I'm glad I looked it up. Only 171,476 words are currently in use according to the second edition of the Oxford English Dictionary so I was off by several orders of magnitude. There are apparently an additional 47,156 words that exist but are considered obsolete. (I wonder if "cockles" in reference to the heart is one of them.) You can lookhere if you're interested in the break down into parts of speech.
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