Fingerless Mitt

Hi all! I need some feedback on my first ever fingerless mitt. I sort of made this up as I went along and have tried a number of stitches to finish off the top. In fact I've tried so many that I may not be a good judge anymore of how it looks. Therefore, take a look and let me know if you think this is a good match to the style of the mitt. THANKS TONS!!! :-D

A Warmth of Shawls

Not only was Thanksgiving filled with the warmth of family, it was also filled with shawls! I finished this shawl during our weekend at Grand View and prayed that my mother would like the natural white color. Otherwise, it was just what she had asked for: light, lacey, and wrapable over the shoulder. She LOVES it and it turned out to be the perfect length as well! This shawl will shortly be keeping her warm when the Florida evenings turn cool. :-D


Next, my sister surprised us by finishing her "shmatte" (pronounced sh-mah-tee). Now for those of you familiar with Yiddish you will recognize this word as meaning a rag. How could this beautiful shawl be called a "rag" by its knitter? Well, she explained that it is sometimes used as an affectionate term for a baby blanket that has been well loved. In fact, loved until it is little more than a rag. She expects this shawl get that much use and be as comforting!

My sister-in-law showed us an attractive and hands free way to wear the shawl. By running the front points of ths shawl through the belt loops it creates this nice criss-cross in front and keeps the shawl from opening while going about life. I'll be remembering this one!

Then there is this WIP. I spent much of Thanksgiving day working on this shawl. It is one of the patterns I learned from Melissa Leapman. This is stash yarn: laceweight alpaca. It is working up with nice drape and body. I'm hoping to leave this at school. They are trying to save money by keeping the heat at a moderate level (read that as cold). I've used 360 meters so far and figure it will need at least another 180 if not more.

Only one note of sadness. This beauty which was to be a stole for me turns out to be lacking in width. It is six inches wider than the length of my outstretched arms, however, it truly needs another foot. Unfortunately, when I thought it was the right size I cut the ends and wove them in. So, for the moment I'm setting this aside. I cannot bear to frog it. Perhaps it will be a prayer shawl donation... Any ideas?

Holiday Wishes

Warmest wishes to you and yours for a wonderful celebration of the blessings that enrich our lives! Happy Turkey Day!

Hello Melissa!

Meet the lovely and talented Melissa Le apman! My first encounter with a published knitter or crocheter. :-DAbout a dozen of us squeezed into the Elegant Ewe to learn about crocheting shawls and hats. Two three hour classes held back to back followed by Melissa's mad dash for the airport to catch a flight back to NY.

It was hard not to dive across the table to gleefully explore this stack of samples that was dangled under our noses while things were being organized to begin class. Too enticing!

So it was a mostly day of making miniatures. Here are tiny versions of two hats and a stole. The smallest hat is worked flat then stitched together. The one to its right is made of granny squares which are stitched into a circle before stitches are picked up to make the crown. That one has got my little brain whirling with ideas about different ways to work the lower part. If any of my experiments are successful, I promise to share. The stole was very simple and has infinite possibilities as you pick a base color and place contrasting colors anywhere you wish as you work along. Also the fringe, which is not complete in this picture incorporates the ends so...no weaving in! I LOVE patterns like that.

Then there were the shawls and a full size hat. I just adore the shawl all the way on the right. Soon it will be a full sized one worked, perhaps in the laceweight alpaca I've been hoarding. Best tip of the day? Work edging into the chaining stitches rather than around the end of the rows. It makes a neater finish.

All in all it was a fun day. Melissa is personable and talented. Here's to a day of crochet and creativity!

Neat!

I was surfing around and ended up on Spindarella's blog where I discovered this neat site counter. (see sidebar) It displays number of visitors by country so you can see how far reaching (or not) your blog is! Pretty neat. I'm up really early for a Sunday because I've got an all day crochet workshop with Melissa Leapman! Cannot wait. Deets to follow. :-D

A Knitter's Weekend!

A fine time was had by all at the Grand View! And what a view it is!

Welcome to a knitter's dream. An entire weekend with great friends, good food, unlimited time to stitch, and the resources of an entire shop!

We even ate breakfast in the shop!

Of course, get this many knitters together and some interesting things happen. We'll just let the pictures speak for themselves, shall we?

There were a few FO's and much experimentation. Here's the happy crew with our projects:

Jackie who finished an adorable hat for her son and made great progress on a sweater...

Lora who tried her first entrelac to produce a pillow cover with great results...

Armed with Pointy Sticks who made great progress on her current project despite a trip to the frog pond...

Laurin made progress on several projects including wristers and a knitted bag. Best of all she introduced her friend, who came along for the weekend to scrapbook, the ways of the yarn and sticks! What an amazing job she did on her first ever project, a scarf. Welcome to the club... hee hee hee another convert!

Gina of recent podcast fame (Sleepy Eyes Knits) worked diligently on a sweater in the round for her sweety making AMAZING progress!

Yarnophiliac stitched away on a beautiful Christmas gift and various smaller projects...

Others who are blogless stitched up socks, baby blankets, hats, and so many wonderful things I lost track!

What a wonderful way to spend a weekend. I cannot wait to do this again. I'm hooked!