Yarn Rambles

Prepping for the Olympics

Rainy, ugly weekend. Perfect for knitting!! I continued working on my Fair Isle cardigan and worked out the designs for my Olympic Latvian mittens.

 

                    Mitten Palm                                            Mitten Back

Mitten Cuff from Magnificent Mittens. I am still planning on making the mittens all in just black and white. Obviously there will be some improvisation since I am not strictly sticking to the ethnic standard of Latvian mittens. I'm glad Yarn Harlot didn't come up with this idea much earlier because it is hard enough to wait until February 10th. I am going to have instructions, needles and yarn all set up in a knitting bag waiting for Friday morning. I feel like guys do when they get up at some ridiculous hour to go fishing or hunting. I want to set the alarm for 3:00 and get in a couple of hours before the rest of the day interrupts me.

Back in the saddle

Last night we had our first company craft night of 2006. It felt so good to spend the evening laughing and sharing projects. I worked on the second sleeve of my Fair Isle cardigan with my feet up on a chair. Xena was quite happy precariously balanced on my legs. She loves being in the middle of things.

The office has taken up the Yarn Harlot's Olympic challenge. The quilters from our other division, Connecting Threads think their hobby suits the challenge as well. Bob is going to be skiing in Utah with two of his sons the first weekend of the Olympics. I am going to open up my house from Friday afternoon through Sunday evening for anyone who want to come for a few hours or the whole weekend. It will be a wild and crazy weekend with a manic focus on productivity.

My goal is a pair of Latvian Mittens using Palette. I have wanted to make a pair for ages but they keep getting pushed down the To Do list. I have a copy of Latvian Mittens by Lizbeth Upitis for inspiration and instruction. Purlwise has a wonderful demonstration of the process on her blog.

I want to add a large gauntlet to my mittens. Not exactly Latvian but I want to have the cuff go over my coat sleeve so there won't be a gap. My friend, Tina, suggested adding a ribbed lining to the gauntlet to keep it snug against my wrist. I want to knit the gauntlet and the braids in bright colors and then the body of the mitten in black and white. I am going to use this wonderful blank mitten chart to plan my design. I'll make a mix and match Lizbeth Upitis' graphs from her book. This is so exciting.

My weekend is going to be all about knitting my cardigan. Last Saturday Bob and I worked all day to get some large projects finished. Including next fall's yarn lines. Sorry, you will have to wait until September to see them but I can tell you they are very exciting. My goal for the weekend is to finish the sleeve so I can focus on the button band while we are at a friend's house watching the superbowl. Next week, I am going to go to a popular button shop to find the perfect buttons.

Nearly the end of the day. Bob and I are going out to dinner and then heading home. Xena had her teeth cleaned today. Little dogs have to be put under aenesthesia so it has been a bit traumatic. The weekend will be quiet for everyone.

Happy Belated New Year!

Bob and I enjoyed a much needed rest in Hawaii over Christmas. I wasted absolutely no time once we arrived. As Bob checked in, I settled down into the nearest chair and pulled out my knitting. I had gotten the Fair Isle cardigan started on the plane. Now I could look forward to many happy hours of colorful knitting.

The cardigan was a special treat for myself. One of our designers was inspired to make a sweater using every color in our Palette line of yarns. I fell in love with it! When she couldn't find a test knitter over the holidays, I volunteered.

The cardigan will be in our February/March catalog. Can't show it to you yet, sorry.

For my dinner knitting, I packed enough yarn for several pairs of socks. Bob loves his food whereas I want to get it overwith so I can get back to reading or knitting. By bringing along a project, I can happily keep Bob company as he works his way through multiple courses. It's a good thing he works out and plays golf on vacations.

One of the things I love about knitting these days is that I can find knitters just about anywhere. It took one day to set up a very nice knitting circle by the pool. Hiding under the shade of the palms, we spent our days helping each other with little knitting challenges and making serious progress on our own projects.

On my own, I knit socks and read some very good books.

I am very glad to be home. The last two weeks have been filled with working out new yarn lines for Fall of 2006. That's right, new yarn lines! Lots of fun and color! With that rather large challenge behind me and am looking forward to regular blogging and knitting.

With the anticipated calm of this new year, I have gone back to practicing my piano and I'm making a sizable dent in my reading pile. And, of course, knitting.