Handspun tip down mittens

When I knitted Pepita using Magic Loop Method I really got hooked on this method of knitting.  I like the fact that there are no seams that are usually found when knitting with double pointed needles.  So I found myself another pattern on ravelry that is knit with magic loop.  I wanted to knit my daughter some mittens with the red supreme possum merino that I purchased at the creative festival in Toronto.  But I only purchased one skein thinking that I would knit Michelle the gloves that I knit for my secret sister.  When  I had the gloves knit I realized they wouldn't be something that she would wear.  So I thought of maybe some mittens.  And it had to be using the magic loop technique.  After a quick search on ravelry I found these .  I cast on using judy'smagiccaston .  She gives some great tips for the rookie magic loop knitter.  The mittens knit up in approximately a day.

As you can see in the photo I didn't use the red possum merino purchased in Toronto because the skein only had 223 yards and I needed 400.  So I had to break into some of my own handspun.  Still need to find a pattern for the red skein.  Oh the fun of knitting!

 

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Pepita update updated

Finally finished the coveralls in time for the baby shower.  These things require many hours of endless garter stitch knitting and some concentration.  The top part down to the crotch is knit in the round on circular needles and then the legs and feet are knit magic loop technique.  It's a very easy technique but I noticed that I keep pulling the needles out a lot.  Could be the reason it took me so long to knit.  I knit the whole bottom twice. LOL It is a relief to finish and start knitting  the Awsome Possum gloves for my secret sister and daughter.  This knitting is endless!  And I love it!

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Awesome-Possum gloves

I had a great time at the Creativfestival in Toronto recently.  A friend and myself took a bus trip to Toronto to see what all the talk was about.  We were looking for some yarn that was unique, different.  It didn't take us very long until we found Cathy Binns booth.  She was selling possum yarn called Supreme Possum Merino.  A blend of 40% possum fur, 50% merino wool and 10% silk.  Wow soft, fuzzy and quite unique.  She had a single of what she had spun on her table and it reminded me of maybe alpaca on the spool.  We bought some of this great stuff which came with a pattern for Awesome-Possum Gloves if one wanted it.  I wanted it!  There was on display on the table a pair of these elegant gloves and they reminded me of my "secret sister"  who is a real elegant lady.  I also bought a ball of red yarn for my daughter who is all hyped up about the colour red these days.





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Meanwhile back at the lake... pepita updated

This coverall is coming along nicely.  I'm down to the first leg now, I use the word down because it's knit top down.  Lots of plain garter stitch knitting is boring enough. The legs are knit magic loop and this is my first time trying this method.  A lot easier than I thought thanks to this video .
Now I have to say something about finding the right buttons for this gift.  They just can't be found!!  They are hiding out there.  I'm looking for fairly small dog paw print buttons because the mother to be has a very large dog and we met on the laneway while she was walking him.  While at the Creativfestival in Toronto recently I found what I was looking for with two exceptions, 1. they were too big and 2. they were too expensive.  My search continues around the city.  Today I spun/plyed the last 480 yards of my Superwash merino and figure I have enough to finish this project.  My skein is in the sink soaking and then hanging over night and tomorrow then I will continue to knit the legs via magic loop.  In the meantime I've received an invitation to the recipient of the coveralls baby shower.  Very excited about meeting some of my neighbors.
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Pepita

The young couple at the end of our laneway are having a baby and I want to
give them something from my handspun. I decided on a pair of rompers which would be warm enough for a wee one, but they will be washed often. They needed to be superwash merino.  So a road trip to Rose Haven Farm in
Picton was planned.  Rick and Michelle were going that way Sunday afternoon anyway so I decided to tag along.  Rose Haven Farm store didn't
let me down.  I purchased some black/white/grey superwash Merino from dyeingforcolour.etsy.com expecting it to be the hohum superwash that I've
purchased in the past.  Not so this stuff! it is so soft and wonderful to spin
with just like spinning butter.  I decided to have a look into this dyeingforcolour.etsy.com and found she is from Trenton and has purchased a mill. Maybe another road trip is in my near future!
I found a great pattern over at ravelry called Pepita and this pattern calls for Superwash Merino, added a few rows of beads to the front.  Actually I planned to make three hearts out of beads but forgot that the romper is knit top down and the heart pattern was ending up upside down.  Didn't feel like
starting over so the diamond pattern was improvised.  ahem!

Here's a sneak peak!

Knitting elastic into socks

 I always have the same problem when knitting/wearing knitted socks.  I recently asked DH if he would like me to knit him some wool socks.  When he quickly answered "no thanks" I was at first a bit hurt but after questioning him further he actually made some sense.  "They don't stay up".  He is right, they don't.  I quickly went to my faithful stand by "google" and found some web sites explaining how to maintain the holding ability. "You can buy elastic invisible knitting thread that is very thin but highly elastic and will not alter the thickness of your socks. There are two ways to use it and both are equally effective", it stated.
1.
 Tie the ends of the yarn and invisible elastic thread together. Cast the stitches on to the knitting needle as you normally would, using the combination of yarn and elastic.

2. 

 You should knit the entire ribbing, using the combination of yarn and elastic.

3.

Cut both the elastic and yarn 2 or 3 inches from the last knitted stitch. Tie the yarn back on, making sure you include the elastic in the knot. This will secure the end of the elastic so it does not slip up into the cuff over time.

Adding Elastic After the Sock is Finished

4.

Thread a sewing needle with the invisible elastic. You will be sewing on the inside of the cuff, so turn the sock inside-out to make it easier.

5.

Sew the first stitch just below the upper ridge of the cuff and secure it by looping it through itself with a second stitch.

6.

Start sewing with a continuous running stitch around the top edge of the cuff and keep spiraling down making rows about 1/4 inch apart. If it is a large, loosely-knitted cuff, sew into every knitted row.

7.

Sew to the end of the cuff and finish off with several stitches sewn into each other to secure the elastic.
                                       Problem solved Marriage saved!
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Anniversary Socks

I found four balls of Kroy 4 ply wool at a flea market recently and had in mind that I would knit myself a pair of socks.  The price was right just $3.00 for the four new balls.  But what to knit.  Since this is the year of my
40th wedding anniversary I decided to knit Anniversary Socks from Nancy Bush from her book Favorite Socks 25 Timeless Designs from Interweave.

So far I've restarted the things three times, making mistakes such as dropping stitches.  The DP needles I'm using are long so I can't use that as an excuse.  I think that the yarn is so dark I'm having trouble seeing it.  I guess it doesn't help that this new place is so dark under all the trees.
Only the front of the sock is decorated with a lace panel. Apparently in the style of nineteenth-century European womens stockings, only the front of the socks is decorated to show beneath a long skirt.  The rest of the sock is simple and nothing out of the ordinary.  I like the way Nancy Bush has done the cable stitches on this sock.  Left cross (LC2) worked over 2 stitches.  Knit into the back of the second st on left needle, knit into the front of the first st, then slip both sts off the needle.  Easy, neat way of knitting cables for a sock.  Maybe not new to some but new to me!  I like it!

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More of the wonderful same around here lately

      My spinning and knitting projects are going by the way side these days.  I didn't think I would ever say that, but it's true!  I do try each day to knit a few rows on my kuusklacecowl but that's about it.  My spinning wheel is sitting where it always does in the living room but I don't spin much.  Last evening while Rick and myself were busy clearing/rakeing the green slime from the beach so that the grandkids could swim we didn't notice these  guys swimming around our feet.  Some of the neighbours feed them and they have become accustomed to people.  Little do they know a hungry preditor is lurking on the front porch just waiting for "hunting season" to arrive!  Just sayin!

                                          
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Kuusk (pronounced "koosk")Lace Cowl

It's been some time since my last post.  The new place is taking up all my time.  But don't think that I haven't been thinking about you all, as I have.  I've been doing some spinning very little and have finished the secret sister mittens to give to my secret sister. I haven't gifted her with them yet, it's just that it's the middle of the summer and who wants to received a pair of mitts now.  I may wait until at least fall when thoughts start turning to winter.   Started knitting another cowl last week, the kuusk lace cowl.  I'm alway drawn to lace.  This one is estonian lace with some more nupps.  Not a lot just enought to bring back all those memories of knitting the  queensilvialaceshawl
I'm knitting several repeats of the pattern in hopes that it will be long enough to go over my head this winter to keep the snow off my curly hair.
Very easy peasy pattern, don't have to think and no safety lines.  Nice finished object for not so much effort.

Yummy smoothie's by Alexamucus

Here are some recipes from Alexamucus
PLEASE TRY THEM IF YOU HAVE A BLENDER

1.  Milk
2.  chocolate chips
3.  peanut butter
4.  cookies (chunks ahoy)
Put all ingredients in a blender and enjoy!
Yum Yum

1,  Apple slices (1 apple)
2.  strawberrys slices (3 strawberrys)
3.  Milk
Put all ingredients in a blender and enjoy

1.  Smarties
2.  Reesses pieces
3.  Ice cream
4.  chocolate sause
5.  whipped cream
Put all ingredients in a blender and enjoy!

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See you at the lake

This post is not related to knitting or spinning but maybe indirectly it is.  It does explain why the long lapses in posts and knitting projects!
We decided to sell our house and move to the lake last August.  That day seems so long ago now.  If I knew what I know now about buying,selling, packing, moving day, unpacking I'm not sure that I would do it again.  Well not in the near future anyway.
It all began with an idea I had for dh.  He's talking about retiring early.  If he did so at the edge of a hayfield where we lived until this past weekend, he would have sat on the couch watching TV with absolutely nothing else to do.  Very boring!  So I decided we would try to find a home on the water.  We did find a place on Rock Lake in Verona.  So we had to sell our home.  We contacted a real estate agent and we began the up, down world of trying to find a buyer.  I listed the house on KIJIJI and within a very short time the place was sold.  Who could beleive it!  Not me.  Someone actually wanted to buy the house we have lived in for almost 40 years. 
Then came the downsizing and the dump runs.  I never thought I would become best friends with the man at the dump.  and his wife actually brings cookies for everyone who visits, isn't that great!  We probably did about 24 dump runs at least.  I think we lived out of boxes for approx. a month.  and then we ran out of boxes and things got dumped into garbage bags.  But at least I labelled the bags.
Moving day came and we were ready, the house was cleaned and we got out on time but then we got to our new place.  The sellers didn't have their/our house emptied.  Furniture everywhere in the house, garage and bunkie and we had no place to sleep for the night because our house was taken over by it's new owners (not us) what to do!  what a delema.  We had two 17 ft UHaul trucks filled with our downsized furniture, from the house and garage and no place to take them to.  We were in trouble!  and the weather man was calling for a bad storm on Saturday. The roadway was extremely hard to get into on the sunnyiest of days.  So what to do.  I called our realestate agent and he had no answer except go to the place anyway and push the sellers stuff out the door.  But how could you do that to a widow.  So we came up with the solution.  Park the U hauls overnight at our son's mother in laws place and sleep at my mom's place (we are selling that place as my mom has passed away) and get up the next morning and start over. 
We got up the next morning, had breakfast at Cora's and drove out to pick up the trucks and set out to the lake.  We were very worried about how all of this was going to play out but funny thing (not funny haw haw but funny that's great) we made it after all that worrying and fussing.  the trip in was great and when we got to the lake the seller was moved out of the house.  she had lots of stuff in the garage  and bunkie but we were able to move into the house while she moved the stuff from the garage.  It took us all day but we made it.  and we got to meet a great person who loved the place and was very glad to meet and become friends with the new owners. (Us)
She told us all the things about the place and we now have her memories as well as ours to make.    All in all not a bad move after all!

                              But this view makes it all worth while. 
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Secret Sister mittens

For christmas this year my "Secret Sister" gave me some Leicester fibre she purchased at WoolTyme.  It was dyed and then twisted into a braide.  The color is called ablaze and it actually reminds me of a blaze/fire.  Very pretty colorway!  Bev isn't a spinner but she is a knitter.  She knew where to go to buy yarn but not fibre.  She told me at our "Secret sister' dinner/gift exchange that she just walked into WoolTyme and said I want something that a friend can spin. I was very impressed not only with her but also with WoolTyme!  Great that they are starting to meets the needs of spinners as well as knitters.  Great big plus for the store.
I chose this pattern because of yardage.  These mittens pattern called Maplewood only require 200 yards.  The weight of the fibre was only 100 grams just enough for mittens or a cowl.  Also the pattern was free over at Ravelry
The mittens took only two days to knit  Although I am not being quite honest, I've only knit one mitt!

                                                         
I decided to spin the fibre worsted (keeping the twist out of the draft zone) making it less fuzzy.  By spinning it worsted also I wanted to show the stitch definition more clearly.  Until now I haven't noticed a big difference between spinning worsted and spinning woolen, just the fuzz.  But something I noticed when I was setting the twist this time, the yarn sunk to the bottom of the sink by itself.  It didn't stay afloat as when I spin woolen.  So I guess there is more air in woolen spun yarn than worsted spun yarn.  Something to think about!!
Now I had better get at that second mitten!!
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