My Head's In The Clouds

Well, the stratosphere anyway. And gosh, is it windy up there!

(Image by lisa870 on Pixabay)

I just finished a shawlette called Stratosphere by Claire Slade and I love it very much! The kit was a Christmas gift to me from my sister in law Linda, and it was a really fun knit, not too hard, easy enough to watch TV with,  but interesting in all the right places.

The kit came with Knit Picks Hawthorne Fingering in three beautiful colors of green-blue, dark brown, and light brown.

Hawthorne is hand dyed beautifully and the colors of the greeny blue looks just like the ocean. Thank you Linda!

And the best bit is that St. Patrick's Day (and also  the feast day of Saint Gertrude of Nivelles, the patron saint of cats and the people who love them) is coming up, so green and brown will be appropriate colors to wear!

(Image by OpenClipart-Vectors on Pixabay)

I have been thinking about my Making Nine goals and I think I have found my Hard Thing To Knit. It is the Wild Swan shawl pattern by Anne-Lise Maigaard and Nim Teasdale.

It is supposed to be medium hard to knit, and of COURSE I will do the beads; there are several options: 882 beads, or 1300 beads, or all of the beads, making 2182 beads for the die hards! I might just be a die hard, I don't know.

Or maybe I will just finish the two beaded shawls I started to knit about twenty years ago. Hmmmmm.

 

Is it Spring Yet? No? OK Then.

February. The shortest month of the year, overwhelmed by the two longest months of the year, January and March, is the sorriest sibling of the months. I'll try to make it better.

I finally finished my Turquoise Zebra Blanket!!!

I started it in December of 2017 and finished it the day after Valentine's Day this year. There were several months of hibernation involved when it had to sleep while I worked on other things. But it is done now!

I knit a sweater for my friend Lynne in eleven days, which kind of surprised me.

Granted, it was a size small in aran weight cotton, but still. It was a fun knit!

I tried to make a mug cake cinnamon roll for breakfast this morning. Mug cakes are when you put ingredients in a mug, stir it up, and voilá, two minutes in the microwave and it turns into a luscious cake. Mine did, and I ate it before could take a picture, but my question is this: why is it that for something that is supposed to be ridiculously simple, it seems to be so hard to make? Maybe I was half asleep, but it felt like it would be just as laborious to make a whole pan of cinnamon rolls and have them easily for a few days than to go through the rigmarole of making one in a mug. Maybe I just need something to bitch about. Anyway, my cinnamon roll mug cake was good. I used this recipe, but I made up my own icing.

Have a good rest of February!

If It Is Cold, It Must Be February

Brrrrrr.

I shouldn't complain; the Midwest of the US and Canada are in a deep freeze so deep that it may be July before they warm up. And, it is going to be much warmer here on the coast of Maine shortly. But right now, I am writing this and it is cold.

I got a few things knit last week.

 

My scrap sock yarn shawl is done. The pattern is Linus and it is really easy. It was a good palate cleanser after Abayomi.

 

I finished Lynne's socks! It was a good way to remember Cape Cod.

 

I knit the Mayfield Mitts designed by Erica Huesser next, and found that a bird in the hand ...

... is worth two on the back of Pogo! Shhhhh, I took this while she was asleep. Be vewy vewy quiet.

The palm side of the mitt is also beautiful:

These mitts are unblocked, and I am sure they will be even prettier once blocked, but I was too excited to show you.

The yarn is Swans Island Sterling Collection fingering weight in the colors Jasper and Citrine, which made them sort of medieval looking. I love their Sterling Collection yarns, which are available in fingering and worsted weights. The fibers are 85% Certified Organic Merino and 15% Black Alpaca, which feels absolutely lovely. Because the alpaca is black, the colors are of course darker and richer than other yarns; they are really stunning. I am basically addicted to this yarn.

I forgot how much I enjoy stranded color knitting. This pattern was easy to remember on the palm, yet interesting to knit on the back of the hand; I loved watching the leaves and the bird appear as I knit. I highly recommend this pattern.

Pogo will be sleeping until Spring.