What i did during the Ice Storm....

I prayed...i paced.....

and i knit knit knit....I knit during the light of day, and even by candlelight...What else was there to do? I finished the baby sweater i started a while back. It just needs to be trimmed and embellished. I started a new loom hat in charcoal (the dark yarn doesn't show up so good...) I finished the 2 pair of baby mittens i made on 2 needles and made my first thumbless baby mitts in the round using the "Magic Loop" method my knitting teacher Linda taught me

(thank you so much Linda) I started another baby sweater for a friend who is due to have her third baby girl in January. And there are more knitted guinea pigs dolls in the making as most of them sold during the Victorian Stroll at The Paper Sparrow....

We did have one casualty tho....Remember the mitten in the making i was so proud of? The one i am into three weeks of knitting class with? See that mass of tangled yarn in the picture above???

Yeah...that's my mitten...I noticed Polly and Zinnia playing tug of war with something brown in the dark the other night, but i thought it was Pollyanna's little monkey doll....but no...it was my mitten. Somehow Zinnia must have jumped up on the couch where i had my knitting bag and it tipped over and ...well...the mitten is mostly gone now. Thankfully they did not get poked with the circular needles, and the 2 plastic stitch markers were still in the mit when i discovered it.

See? As you know, mittens are not supposed to have fingers, or holes coming out the sides....Linda, my dear, patient knitting teacher...if you are reading this, i want you to know i am getting right back up in the saddle and starting anew! I am determined to learn how to make mittens...

Mitten Madness (and other things...)

Mittens have taken up a lot of time around here
I am still working on the adult mittens (dark maroon wool at the top of the photo) and for me it is mighty slow going. We'll see if i finally get it tonight at class at The Paper Sparrow.

The red acrylic mittens are "thumbless" mitts for toddlers. i found the pattern on line. They fit Lola perfectly! But while we were working at The Paper Sparrow during the Victorian Stroll on Sunday, a young couple and their little baby saw my mittens and asked if i made smaller ones to fit their infant. So...i took that basic pattern, adapted the cuff from just plain garter stitch to a rib knit stitch, used smaller needles and finer yarn, and the infant mitts are coming out just right! What a rush! I actually figured this out myself! I promised them i would have a few pair of thumbless mitts hanging on the wall at the shop by the weekend and i think it is going to happen!

And here is my lovely hat model Lola, wearing a little hat i made a few weeks ago and have for sale at The Paper Sparrow ... (It's a good thing she doesn't demand payment for her work!)
And just for fun, here is a picture of our Lola, (sent to me just last night via email from her Mommie) sitting on her caterpillar rocker (an early Christmas present) wearing her hat that i made for her. I cannot tell you how much happiness i feel that she actually LIKES her hat and wants to wear it, even indoors! It makes all the late night knitting lessons and sore wrists and fingers all worth it!