...auction quilts...

...another chunky knit beanie and my February lady sweater...

and I am supervising lots of weaving and hopefully, some painting.

I am looking forward to a laid back weekend with lots of crafting.  What are you working on?

From this....

to this...

in less than ONE HOUR!!!!  Seriously.

Thank you, Leslie, for such a great, fast, satisfying and cute pattern!  It's perfect.

Pattern:  Chunky Knit Beanie by Leslie Friend, a Friend to knit with
Yarn:  Rowan Big Wool, Shade 52
Needles:  Size 15 straights
Size:  Large
Mods:  None

Go on, grab some chunky yarn and get knitting.  Your head will thank you.

When I was in New York last month, I stopped at Purl and drooled over all the gorgeous yarns.  I was having a hard time focusing, there was so much goodness in one store.  Kristin, who was with me, has way more restraint than I do.  (I know - I never told you all about that bloggy meet up.  Bad me.  It has nothing to do with Kristin - she's completelycharming, as you would imagine.  And we had such a nice day together, shopping all over NYC.)  I don't think she bought a thing because she wants to finish her sweater first.  Oh no, not me.  I bought some Koigu just because it is pretty.  Sigh.

When I got home, I came to the realization that I love sock yarn.  Love it.  But, um, I don't really like knitting socks.  Not a bit.   Then I remembered Maritza made a lovely cowl out of sock yarn, so I looked for her post and copied her.

I wore my cowl today and I adore it.  In fact, I already have another one on the needles.  ;)  If you want specifics, go check out Maritza's post.  She gives you all the details.  I used about 1 1/2 skeins of my yarn.  I don't know which color it is - I lost the tag.  If I had to guess, I'd go with 610 (113).

I am gearing up for a cold, but festive weekend.  I've been slowly working on decorating the house for the holidays and I am feeling so much more festive than I did last year.  I changed the way I am doing  some things and I think that is helping.  I'll share some more thoughts next week.  And if I have seemed absent on your blogs, it's because I haven't been reading many recently.  I plan on doing some catch up reading in the slow moments this weekend.  That's it for now - I have a date to get ready for!  Happy Friday, everyone.

This sweater has been a saga.  I am amazed that I even finished it because it was by far the least fun I have ever had knitting.  My wrist issues started when I started this sweater and I have my fingers crossed that they end with it too.  But, I am glad that I stuck with it and finally got it off the needles, even if it took the better part of a year.

Rowan Felted Tweed is a beautiful yarn.  I loved working with it - it was soft and light in my hands.  There were many times that I wished I had chosen a different color.  Well, a lighter color, actually.  It would have been easier to see the dropped stitches and the mistakes I made in the cable.  But I don't think I would love the finished sweater so much if it weren't this pretty brown.

The garter rib was tedious.  I kept messing it up - knitting when I should have been purling and vice versa.  When I look at it now, I like the subtle detail and think ripping out all those wrong rows was worth it.  I do love the mock seam.  That is just plain beautiful.

The tangled yoke - well, it was a tangled mess most of the time.  But in the end, if I went at it one repeat at a time, I swore less and managed to get a whole row right.  Add up 18 right rows and you get a whole cabled yoke.  How I managed it, I am not sure.  The frustration was worth it.  I think it is pretty amazing.

The buttons are shell and they pick all the little tweedy bits in the yarn.  I wish they were a smidge smaller, but oh well.  They do look nice.

The sweater is comfy - it's light weight, but still warm.  The sleeves are too long (my fault - I added too much length) and the overall fit is a little big (my fault, too - I lost weight).  I don't care - it's a good problem to have.  I still adore it.  I am just so happy that I am finished knitting it.

So there you go - item number 3 checked off the craft goal list.  That, too, feels good.

Pattern:  Tangled Yoke Cardigan by Eunny Jang

Yarn: Rowan Felted Tweed, Color 145, 8 skeins

Needles:  sizes 4, 3 and 0, 32" circulars and size 4 double points

Size:  38"

Modifications:  I added length.  1 1/2" to the body and 1" to the sleeves.  I also picked up a few extra stitches on the button bands to make up for the length.  Otherwise, I knit it as the pattern said.

Would I do it again?  Hell no.  Was it worth it?  Hell yes.

Here is my hat.  And here is the pattern.

I saw a hat in the Garnet Hill catalog last winter that was similar to this.  It was made of cashmere and had a price tag to prove it.  I thought I would try to make my own version of it and then lost the photo.  Imagine my surprise when I saw it in the catalog again this year.  Right away, I decided to give it a go, but I used my new most favorite yarn, Malabrigo worsted, instead of the cashmere.  I had this pretty pink on hand and for lack of a better name, I am calling this the Rose Hill Hat.

It's an easy hat.  Some garter stitch, some bobbles and then full speed ahead with the stockinette stitch.  I haven't written out a pattern to share before, so if you do make it and  - gasp! - find any mistakes, let me know and I will correct them.  I put the pattern in a pdf that you can download here or over in the left side bar.  I am extremely grateful to Tracy, who didn't think twice when I asked her to take my camera and photograph it for me.  She also graciously let me use one of her shots for the pattern - thank you so much, friend.

Go on, get knitting.

That Leslie.  She's gave me a gift without even knowing it.

If you haven't knit her Toasty mitts, or her Toast wrist warmers for that matter, grab some yarn and cast on.  I love making these - they are comfy and easy.  They are also a fast knit - it took me about four hours per pair.  Perfect for the carpool line, or all those sports practices where you sit and wait.  They are even more perfect for me because amazingly I can knit them without much strain on my wrist.   These are my three finished pairs - all in Malabrigo worsted.  From top to bottom, the colors are tortuga, frost gray and pink frost. 

I've started the fourth pair and there will probably be more afterthat.  I told you I was a one trick pony, and I wasn't just talking about the yarn.  But I digress.  They aren't all for me.  I'm keeping one pair and giving therest as gifts.

Thank you, Leslie.  I am sure my friends will thank you too.

I cannot get enough of this yarn.  It's Malabrigo and it's a dream.  I'm on my third pair of mitts using it and the hat I knitted last week was with it too.  I sent some to Emily because I am sure that you can't help but get your knitting mojo back if you have this yarn in your hands.  I abandoned my February lady sweater after the power came back on, but now I am motivated to get back on it.  I should fess up and tell you that I am contemplating scrapping what little I have done and starting over with Malabrigo.   It's that tempting.

Well, the studio is still a mess.  A very big, horrible, never been seen before type of mess.  I never even climbed the stairs to contemplate cleaning it.  I bought some yarn and then I decided to cast on a new project.  The way I look at it, cleaning can wait.  Plus, knitting is much more fun.  And small projects like these are satisfying my compulsion to knit without hurting my wrist too much.  It was a win-win situation.

Happy weekend everyone!