Mismatched Mittens

Ahhh mittens. I love them. It can get very cold here in winter and you must have something to protect your hands from the elements. I made a pair of mittens last year based off the Peekaboo Mittens found over at Magknits.
However, they seem to be hiding from me this year. I thought I put them in the top of my closet, but I didn't see them this year. Oh well. It seemed like a good excuse to make a new pair and so I did.

I found last year, that I never used the peekaboo on both mittens at the same time. I would occasionally poke my fingers out from one hand in order to open my purse, or grab money, or something like that. But, I never needed both. So, I decided I would make 2 different mittens from the same yarn. Here, they look identical, don't they?But, of course, I didn't call them Mismatched Mittens for nothing. The mitten on the left is a standard mitten. However, if you look closely, you'll find the mitten on the right is a peekaboo mitten. It's the perfect solution as far as I'm concerned. They are very pink and warm. I love them and I can't wait for it to get cold enough to wear them. Wait? Did I really just say that? It's official; I've been in Michigan for too long!

• Yarn: Plymouth Galway
• Needles: Size 6 and size 7 DPNs
• Pattern: Mine but with lots of inspiration from the Peekaboo Mittens and the general mitten guidelines found in The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns.

Rummikub Bag

Well, not long after I finished my first Veil of Leaves sock, I cast on for a small game bag. You see, we bought a Rummikub game for a family friend as a Christmas gift. It's a really fun game and Pam loved it! However, the down side is that it's a tile game that doesn't come with a bag. It is so much easier to throw the tiles in a bag and pass the bag around while playing. I made one for our Rummikub set when I first learned how to knit and it is ugly but functional. For Pam, however, I have a few more years of knitting under my belt and I was ready to design a better bag.

I love how it turned out! I used elements from several different sources while creating this bag. It has a bottom similar to the one featured in the Everlasting Bagstopper from Knitty.com. Then it has shaping similar to a bag in 25 Bags to Knit. Finally, I used a drawstring with tassels similar to the one seen on the cover of Last Minute Knitted Gifts. The great thing is, however, that I modified each of these elements to make it look how I wanted it to look. It is entirely my own design at the end of the day. It came out even better than I thought it would. To top it off, we tried it out the other night and it was perfect. Hooray! I love it when things work out right, don't you?

• Yarn: Plymouth Encore
• Needles: size 9
• Pattern: Mine

A Letter to Cat Bordhi

Dear Ms. Cat Bordhi,

I recently started your Veil of Leaves sock pattern from your book "New Pathways for Sock Knitters: Book 1". The pattern intrigued me and I couldn't wait to just dive right into this fun, new sock. I cast on before completing the mate to another sock I finished months ago because I was just too excited! I made a small alteration right at the start because I really enjoy ribbing at the top of a sock, but then I began to follow your pattern as written. Things were progressing quite nicely! I liked following the charts for the leg and my sock was really coming along. Then, however, I came to the heel.

My goodness! I was NOT prepared for this. In your defence, it has been years since I've done any kind of short row heel. In fact, I did a short row heel on the first pair of socks I ever made and then I fell in love with heel flaps. I've been solely a heel flap girl for about 2-3 years now. Also in your defence, I did not start with the baby sock primer you feature at the beginning of the book either. I really felt that I could read through the pattern a few times and get through it without too much difficulty. But, imagine my surprise when your master reinforced heel section BLEW MY MIND! I had to read the instructions about 3 times to make sure I knew what I was doing. It was far more intense than I anticipated. Step 4 in particular was beyond my grasp. I'm still not sure how I ended up with the yarn in the right place and the correct numbers at the end of it all. The pictures probably helped the most, but it was mind boggling at first glance. What kills me about it now is that step 4 is probably the easiest section, but I just could not grasp it! I kept staring at the description and the pictures and saying WTF? inside my head. Luckily, I figured it all out and I finished my first Cat Bordhi master reinforced heel! I don't suppose you hand out medals for achieving such a magnificent feat, do you? If so, let me know! I desperately could use one!

Sincerely,

Helmut

FO - Crest of the Wave socks

Well, it's official! I finished my Crest of the Wave socks. Hooray!

So, in case you're curious, I did NOT work on them for a full 5 months. lol! I put them aside quite a bit and did a fair amount of ripping back as well. Overall, I'm quite pleased with them, especially the second sock. I made a few changes to the second sock and it made it even better. I added a few plain rows of knitting before starting my toe decreases and I used a larger needle so that I would gain some needed extra length and comfort. Oh yeah, I guess I should mention that my right foot is definitely bigger than my left foot and that I wanted to make sure one of the socks would fit it well. So, my socks are officially fraternal twins and not identical twins. Oh well. Over time, I imagine the "shorter" one will stretch out a bit and fit just as well. But for now, I like that they aren't exactly the same.

Pattern: Crest of the Wave from More Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlotte Schurch
Yarn: Interlacement's Tiny Toes (fabulous yarn, btw! I would love to use it again sometime)
Needles: size 1, 2, and 2 1/2 DPNs made of different materials by different manufacturers... go figure!