Twinners!

In the continuing theme of birthday knits... Some mitts I made for my pal KW. I made a pair for myself during sock summit and a second pair when I got home. 

I do love how Manos stripes -- I think these will be good and cheerful gloves for this fall. 

Happiest birthday dear friend!

The details: Manos del Uruaguay Allegria

Needles: 2.5 mm

Pattern: Improvised tube with a thumb....

Henslowe, again

And now, Henslowe for my pal Johanna's birthday. Love this pattern so much - so pretty and elegant. Happy birthday J!

The yarn: Tanis Fiber Arts cashmere and silk singles, frost colourway

The needles: 3.75 mm

Ishbel, again

Another Ishbel - this one for my pal C, who celebrated a special birthday recently. Full credit to my other pal Johanna, for being my life coach on this one when I got impatient in the lace repeats. (I hope you all have a Johanna in your life telling you it will be worth it in the end). And I also hope you have a friend like Miss C, worth knitting an Ishbel for....

The yarn: Madelinetosh prairie in Tart

Needle: 3.75 mm

Gloves galore

So this summer was spent making a lot of fingerless gloves. Without going into all of the sad details, there was lots of turmoil at work and when the going gets tough, the tough get knitting. I know that for new things to happen, old things have to end -- but man, sometimes you just wanna hang onto the old. 

In any case, I made gloves for friends who have moved on. Some things I learned: layering one pair of gloves over another is a good idea, grey is great (as if you didn't already know that), and baby llama is basically the best thing ever.

Ok September, it's go time. Bring on the cold weather, my friends and I are ready for ya.

Travelling woman

A shawl I made earlier this year for my pal Deb.

The pattern: Travelling Woman (free!). This is a really lovely pattern with lots of modification options but I did it as instructed in the smallest size.

The yarn: Becoming Art (hoarded from Sock Summit -- eep. Gotta use it sooner or later)
The inspiration: Lovely SteelNeedles who has made so many lovely versions of this shawl.

Penny's sweater

A classic cardi for little baby Penny... I am going to admit that I was pretty pleased when I sewed on the buttons.

Pattern: Little Coffee Bean Cardigan (but obviously unstriped) (free)

Yarn: Cascade Superwash

Buttons from MJ Trim

Knit camp recap

Hey y'all. Hope you're enjoying a nice long weekend. 

My pal Lynn did a fantastic recap of the fun we had at Meg Swansen's Knitting Camp.

I was going to be lazy (who, me?) and leave it at that (because honestly, Lynn did such a nice recap AND she even cut a video of the steeking adventures) but I'll go just a bit beyond my lazy inclination and share some cool things we happened upon:

:: We were lucky enough to sit beside Ted, who made THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BLANKET EVER. He used 10 skeins of Icelandic unspun to create a blanket that is at once lofty and light but snuggly and warm. Amazing, amazing, amazing.

:: On the other side of us (we were the middle in an awesome sandwich), sat the lovely Robin Ulrich. Her patterns are beautiful -- and I'm determined to make Greyhaven hats and cowls and boot toppers this Christmas.

:: The more or less right formula for increasing evenly across a row (explained here by Ann Budd). 

:: For a better SSK (slip, slip, knit) - try this method: Slip the first stitch as if to knit, slip the second stitch as if to purl, then knit the two together. The result? The second slip is hidden neatly behind the first. Technical gems tossed out all day long at knit camp! 

:: Wisconsin has deep fried cheese curds, and they're a really good idea.

::  If you ever flip out at a sewing machine when you're lining up your steek, Lynn is a very good person to have beside you and finish up the job. Really, I'm not a theatrical person, but I started to sweat and get dizzy when I put the needle down in my knitting. Lucky for me, Lynn got the job done. She also always has a chocolate bar tucked away for emergencies.

UGH, The definition of cute

Hi friends. Thanks for the welcome back :)

These booties are destined for a dear friend's new little lamb. I love the little scalloped edging and the rows of garter stitch goodness.

The yarn: Rowan organic yarn

The pattern: Stripy bootees (but without the stripes) from Zoe Mellor's 50 Baby Bootees to knit

Kiri, at last

Hey y'all. I'm back (sorta). I kinda lost my blogging mojo and am still not so sure I have it back. Some fun things have happened - I went to Malta and Wisconsin for knit camp... My friend Lynn did an awesome recap. I've posted some pics on instagram (Come friend me! I feel like eventually the knitting blog stuff will migrate over there.) But, until then... 

This one has been in the works for years. Like from back in the day when people were still knitting the Birch, or Kiri shawls. And back in the day when I thought I loved this shade of purple. At the middle point, I vowed never to do this again. But when I finished, I did seriously consider casting on another. But then, I got serious with myself.

The details: 

Yarn: Rowan Kid silk haze

Needles: 4 mm

Graham + Bella

These are some knits that entered circulation before they were properly photographed. It's been that kind of winter where the knits go from the needles directly to the head and hands immediately.

Patterns: Hats - Graham, Mittens - Bella

Yarns: White - Rowan Angora, Grey - Cascade superwash + 1 strand of black mohair, Black mittens - Patons Classic Merino + 1 strand of black mohair

Modifications: I followed the hat patterns as directed but I came out with a weird little know at the end. Ripped it back so it wasn't so long and it's now perfectly rounded and slouchy.

Off for a little vacay ... back next month!

February knits

February was dedicated to fingerless gloves. I think I could dedicate a year to making these and not be bored. 

The yarn: From left, Koigu, Malabrigo, Diamond Luxury Merino (x2)

The pattern: From left, Just your basic tube with a thumb gusset, Ferryboat mittens (x3) 

I heart...

Toronto's Beaches - taken earlier this winter...

:: This looks like a really lovely pillow

:: Mini cakes with sour cherry vanilla bean frosting. Yes please.

:: Scarves. Love them. Live in them all year round. And so this is very handy: three ways to tie a scarf

:: I really would love to try this recipe for calzones

:: I heart crocheted hearts

:: I also love me some pouch patterns. As you may have already gathered...

:: This (free) sock pattern combines cables and seed stitch so elegantly

For Deb

I made this little shawlette for my pal Deb for Christmas (see what a backlog you have if you lay off the blogging for a long time?). If I do say so myself, it is lovely and looks so pretty on my sweet friend. A nice, simple pattern that uses just a small bit of lace for elegant effect.

The details: 

Pattern - Sweet Dreams

Needles - who can even remember? Not me. I usually play by the pattern rules though.

Yarn - Zen Garden Serenity silk

Sarah's hat

I made this hat for my friend Sarah and it fits her perfectly. This knit was super fast. Truly felt like a cast-on, cast-off situation.

The details

Pattern - Jul hat

Yarn - Cascade 220

Needles - 4.0 mm

The perfect hat for little girls

This hat doesn't look like much in this photo, but I promise you, when worn it melts hearts. I've made this hat a few times and it turns the most modern of little girls into darling little flappers.

The details: 

Pattern - Flapper hat

Yarn - Remnants - Diamond Merino Superwash (remnants from various projects - feels good!)

Paris Night

I've been spoiled terribly by my pal Kerry, who is the very model of generosity. She made me this lovely shawl that I've loved wearing all winter - through the supposed polar vortex and frost quakes. Thank you sweet friend!

The details: 

Pattern - Black Death

Yarn - Malabrigo - Paris Night colourway

Somebody is surprised

If eyes are the windows to the soul, then these guys have crazy and chaotic hearts.

There's something just a wee bit off -- but when you're making presents on deadline and your choice of safety eyes are limited -- you end up with some stuffies who look a wee bit stunned at how everything has turned out in the end. They were well-loved in the end.

The details: Iris the Gourmet Monster and Jerry the Musical Monkey (a kit purchased many years ago - who's bringing down her stash? Me, thank you very much)

Yarn - Malabrigo

ahem, hello again!

So, I lost my blogging mo-jo BIG TIME. I won't go into the details except to say, sometimes it's nice to just make. 

But so here we go... I made this little shawl for my friend Lynn's 30th birthday. There's a super cute model shot here. There's something wonderfully deceptive about short rows that makes the process seem to go faster than it actually is. Be warned though, you gotta love garter stitch (and I mean really LOVE) to make it through this pattern.

The details: 

Pattern: Imagine When

Yarn: Swan's Island Garnet

Needles: 4.0 mm

A belated happy new year :) See you again soon.

Slouchy and sweet

Little hats for little dears.

This blog post did a total number on me -- and got me thinking about making kiddo hats. 

I settled on this pattern because there's a bit of slouch. Without overstating it, slouchy hats on adorable children make me happy to be alive. These ocean-coloured hats are destined for two little sisters who love the beach.

The details: 

Pale Blue hat - Tosh DK (Windowpane), Dark blue hat Madtosh Vintage (Ocean)

Needles: 4mm and 4.5mm

Mitten pattern: Stars and Stripes mittens (but without stars or stripes)

The three-year socks

I started these socks three years ago (gulp) when I was on vacation. I cast them aside because one of the wooden needles I was using was a bit scraggly and every time I came around to that needle I would get frustrated when it caught on the yarn (of course, it didn't occur to me to swap out the offensive needle until a year had passed). I had various other doubts about these socks (too dense, not dense enough, why did i do the heel flap so shallow, the ribbing section is too short and on and on). Also, wasn't loving the pooling. All this whining and fretting for a plain ole pair of vanilla socks -- but you guys get it right? I knew you would :)

The details: 

Yarn - Socks that Rock Silkie (from Sock Summit #1)

Needles: 2.5 and also 2.75 when I had my doubts

Pattern: Plain ole basic sock