more trip mitts and a year end knit reconciliation

It struck me that a pair of Trip Mitts would be just the thing for a gift I needed to give last week.

There aren't many patterns I feel sure I 'll finish within 2 days. Have to admit, while I was publishing and writing about the Trip Mitts pattern here, I got a jones to knit more of them, just for funs this time.  My eyes lit on a skein of handspun I've been hoarding   saving. I had me a plan.

These are knit in a springy handspun BFL wool  in a denim colorway. The construction suits the lovely handspun colors, and the fit is pretty fab. It was a frenetic few days, last week, so I cast on early in the morning, left them on the table and whenever I had a couple of minutes or was cruising by,  I knit a few rows. Poof, by the end of the evening, the first one was done. I hadn't even thought through the contrast color /yarn for the three needle bindoff finish.

I'm  pretty suggestible when it comes to color. I walked out the front door and saw these last golden leaves fallen on a row of stones on the porch railing. I have goldy yarn leftovers aplenty here. Contrast color solved!

For a hot minute, I considered joining 12 Days of Casting On.  It appeals in that throw caution to the wind, say Yes, go wild, just do it way... but I have a pretty good amount of, let's say, abandon, in my life already.  I'm turning my attention to other projects that I'm pretty psyched about: a partially finished shawl that'll be a gift, and more yarn for a second shawl I'll keep, a lopapeysa  I am twitchy to swatch, and then maybe a lopapeysa for Dave, a partially finished bulky scarf from last winter that's got some appeal again, and I'll confess, I need some new mitts with fingers 'cause you just know it really will turn into winter one of these days.  Zoe's agitating for a new sweater too, and how can I resist that? All worthy and interesting , all knitting I am looking forward to.   

But then I was contemplating the fabulous Noro Silk Garden Solo Trip Mitts that Mason Dixon Knitting Kay Gardiner whisked out...and I thought of a dear friend who I want to gift at the New Years Eve bonfire, and I thought of at least one partial skeins of Noro Sillk Garden in my tote bags of mysterious leftovers,  ...and I know I can knit these Trip Mitts in a couple days, I have proof..so I'm casting on for them last thing tonight, and probably my last cast on for 2015.

Happy New Year to all.  What're your knitting  plans as the year flips over?

mo' mittens

It's that time of winter when you want something woolly on your hands. When Dave put in a rare knitting request, I was all over it. I showed him a couple of skeins of Noro that seemed  black-ish and teal-ish. I love me some Noro knitting. I coulda shoulda woulda cast on for your basic mittens and whipped'em right out.But nooooooo. I had to make them more special. Fletcher Mittens.  You know how sometimes you make things more complicated than they need to be?Admittedly, some of it was my own doing. I started out on dpns.  I do not enjoy knitting mittens on dpns. And,  working from both ends of the Noro Kureyon at the same time, to get the striping action, made it a fiddly undertaking.Mr. Noro, it turns out, had impishly hidden a ton of fuschia in the colorway. Dave's pretty open minded about his mittwear but fuschia?  Not going to cut it. So I cut it, instead. (Ok, tore it out, but you know, give me some poetic license). Adding smaller bits and ends just increased the fiddly factor. Again, that's on me. 
I switched to  magic loop for mitt # 2, making me much happier. Overall, the mitered mitt is kind of a fun construction, it has generous thumbs, and the pattern makes a nice dense handcover, perfect for shoveling snow. Which in the end, is what it is all about.  Right?
Let us move on to something that is as close to perfection as you'll find at mi casa.Zoe turned one!

new mitts two mitts

All along I've been knitting,  like a little rattly tune always playing in the background. Every once in a while it's nice to notice the score. These were supposed to be a Christmas present but that last inch somehow took an extra week. How does such a thing happen? They're custom knit. Don't you love a pair of mitts that fit you like a glove? 
Pattern: Berroco Woodhaven - a good basic  pattern, I like tops that are squared off, not pointy. Just a couple of decrease rounds and then kitchener ending. 
Yarn: Artyarns Supermerino with a touch of Cascade 220 at the cuffs, to match the Honey Cowl from the last post. 
Needles: size us 6
  
The yarn was chosen for its superwash qualities. We've been having rampant accidental feltings .  Since the laundry police I can't be vigilant at all all the time, the solution is to  minimize the number of shrinkable handknits before they are all...minimized. I have to admit I don't love this yarn. First of all, it's pricey, yet it had a couple of frayed/knotted bits, you can see one in the second photo from top, poking out the right cuff.  The yarn feels nice but I'm not loving the pooling/flashing. The giftee, though, is quite happy with them, and that's the most important thing.  We're scheming what to do with the rest of the skein.
 
Leading choice is a hat, paired with the rest of that Cascade 220 skein. Upside: coordinated accessories, breaking away from the handknit bag lady look so often seen 'round these parts. Downside: it'd be at least partially feltable.

she shoots sheep shots, yet again

* Coffee giveaway still in full swing--go enter. Java! *

Today's Photo Heavy Monday is from Beaver Brook Farm in Old Lyme,  CT.  I had a sheep & lamb visiting jones on Friday. What ? That doesn't happen to you ?

The back lighting through the ears slays me.

Sun worshippers? Or posing?

We were a day early for Open Farm Days, which features lots of shearing & kettle corn.
Fortunately, the shearing was already underway. Unfortunately, no kettle corn.
OTOH with no one else visiting, we got to meet the first lamb of the season up close & personal.
 They also have a cheese shop, and butcher counter.
Handspun mitts & hat. Love.
Thrummy.
 
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If you click on the link up top , you'll see you can go visit Beaver Brook Farm almost every day. It is the best antidote I can think of to the barrage of commercial, overwrought holiday stuff going on. Also, really excellent cheese. 

I like to serve their Pleasant Son because we are what we eat. 

If you don't happen to live around here, try googling "farms to visit" and your location.